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OLD HOME WEEK 

CELEBRATION 

AUGUST 19-22, 1904 



i i 



HISTORICAL NOTES 

CENTERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS 




Published by the Centerville Old Home Week Association in a 

special ilimitetl <£t>ition of Five Hundred Copies 

of which this is Number 



BOSTON. MASS. 

THE SPARRELL PRINT 

1905 



Tr - 



4- 






EDITING COMMITTEE 



Charles B. Stevens Chairman 

Julia E. Phinney .' Historian 

May H. Hallett Secretary 



■JZ2,5 






CONTENTS 



Foreword 7 

Introductory 9 

Officers, Committees, Choir, etc 12 

Ball 14 

Sports 15 

Concert 16 

Church Services (Sunday) 18 

Public Exercises (Monday) 19 

Barnstable Patriot Review 20 

Sermon 37 

President's Address 47 

I x Memory of Those Who Have Passed On 49 

Ode to Centerville 50 

Letter of E. B. Worrell 51 

The Sons of Cape Cod 55 

Words of Songs 57 

The Old Home and the New 59 

Our Home Industries 63 

Our Boys in the West ( Poem) 67 

Our Elderly People 68 

Remarks (Rev. H. T. Torosyan) 70 

Words of Songs 71 

The Public School 73 

The Town Meeting 77 

Woman, Queen of the Home 81 

The Cape Cod Sailor 85 

Cape Cod Soldiers 89 

Words of Songs 91 

Letters 92 

Historical Paper 95 

Centerville " Boys " in Minnesota 148 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Centerville Old Home Week Association Frontispiece 

Main Street, Centerville, Looking North to Post Office 11 

Charles B. Stevens 22 

Summer Residence of Charles B. Stevens 23 

Freeman M. Crosby 24 

Residence of Freeman M. Crosby 25 

Charles L. Ayling 26 

Summer Residence of Charles L. Ayling 27 

Russell Marston 28 

Residence of Russell Marston 29 

William S. Phinney ». 30 

Summer Residence of Howard Marston 31 

Cyrenius A. Lovell 32 

Residence of Aaron S. Crosby 33 

Una J. Kelley 34 

Residence of Flisha B. Worrell 35 

Rev. H. T. Torosyan 36 

Summer Residence of John B. Cornish 45 

John B. Cornish 46 

Susan J. Phinney Cornish -. . . 50 

Flisha B. Worrell 52 

Alonzo P. Crosby 54 

Dr. Edward P. Crowell 58 

Aaron S. Crosby 62 

A Minnesota Group of Centerville " Boys" 65 

Albert N. Lewis 66 

Dr. John E. Pratt 72 

Capt. Owen Crosby 75 

Herbert N. Hinckley 76 

Gen. A. D. Ayling 80 

Edwin H. Evans 83 

Capt. James D. Kelley ' 84 

Mrs. William F. Hallett 87 

Edward W. Childs 88 

Julia E. Phinney 96 

Main Street, 1855 100 

Henry R. Lewis House 101 

"Aunt Jane" Richardson 102 

The First Church 105 

Old Parish House 1 10 

The Surf 112 

"Uncle Billy" Fuller's Old Mill 114 

Home of William Fuller 115 

The "Nelson Harvey" 118 

The James Lewis Homestead 122 

Schoolhouse 126 

The Bacon Home School 127 

Monument Square 131 

Cranberry Bog 132 

The Old Liberty Hall 134 

Village Library and Howard Hall 136 

Old Isaac Bearse House 137 

James Crosby Homestead 140 

Vincent Nickerson Home 141 

Nelson Bearse House, Congregational Church 142 

Howard Marston 144 

Camp Opechee and Bearse's 146 



FOREWORD 



< T"'H E publication of this little volume is the out- 
come of a commendable desire on the part oj those 
interested to preserve in permanent form the records 
of an unusually successful celebration of Old Home 
Week in the village of Centerville, Massachusetts, 
which occurred in August, nineteen hundred and 
four. The several addresses, the historical paper, 
the sermon, and the songs were all so carefully pre- 
pared, so appropriate to the occasion, and of such 
intrinsic merit as to justify the labor and expense of 
collecting, compiling, and printing, in the hope that 
to every son and daughter of old " Chequaquet," 
wherever located, this book will be welcome, not only 
as a souvenir of a delightful week, but as an enduring 
memoir of their native village. — C. B. S. 





INTRODUCTORY 




T is generally known and universally conceded that 
exclusive credit for conception of the Old Home 
Week idea belongs to Ex-Gov. Frank W. Rollins 
of New Hampshire, w r ho inaugurated it in his 
State several years ago. Since then it has spread 
all over New England and has been observed in 
many towns in our own Bay State. We are of 
the opinion, however, that the celebration has 
seldom been undertaken by a single village because 
of the magnitude of such an enterprise, the multitude 
of detail, and large expense involved in the preparation of such an 
extensive program as is usually presented at Old Home Week ob- 
servances. 

Whether or not Centerville is the first village to celebrate the 
home-coming of sons and daughters is of little moment; that she did 
so celebrate is now a source of pride and gratulation to every person 
who assisted in any way in making of the series of entertainments, 
exercises, etc., a most gratifying success. 

It was on Aug. 31, 1903, in response to an invitation from Mr. 
John B. Cornish to meet at his summer residence for the purpose of 
discussing the advisability of celebrating Old Home Week in Center- 
ville one year later, that the following persons assembled, viz.: Mr. 
and Mrs. Aaron S. Crosby, Rev. and Mrs. H. T. Torosyan, Mr. and 
Mrs. Howard Marston, Mr. Asa W. Stevens, Mr. Charles B. Stevens, 
Mr. Henry A. Stevens, Mr. and Mrs. C. L. Ayling, Mr. Benj. F. 
Childs, Mr. Wm. S. Phinney, Mr. R. E. Childs, Miss T. Desire 
Lewis, Miss Rosa Hallett, Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Cornish, and Mrs. 
Wm. F. Hallett. Mr. Aaron S. Crosby was elected chairman for 
the evening and Mrs. Wm. F. Hallett secretary. Various opinions 
were expressed and many plans discussed. The following motion 

[9] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

proposed by Mr. Cornish was seconded and adopted. Moved: 
That an Executive Committee, of seven be appointed by the chair with 
power to and who shall appoint, a President, two Vice Presidents, 
Secretary, and Treasurer, Toastmaster, Historian, Finance committee 
and committees on Programs (which includes arrangements for 
speakers, toasts, etc.), Music, Sports, and any other committees that 
may seem to them desirable, and to have general charge of affairs 
thereof. 

Mr. Aaron S. Crosby (chairman of the August meeting) appointed 
the following persons to serve on this committee, viz. : Mr. Edward 
W. Childs, Mrs. Wm. F. Hallett, Mr. W. S. Phinney, and Mr. C. A. 
Lovell of Centerville, Mr. Charles L. Ayling, Mr. Freeman M. Crosby, 
and Mr. Charles B. Stevens of Boston. On Monday evening, April 
18th, 1904, the members of this committee met at the residence of Mr. 
Lovell, and after selecting Aug. 19-20-21-22 as the days and dates 
for the celebration, proceeded to the election of officers, committees, 
etc., as required of them by the motion adopted at the former meet- 
ing. Mr. Edward W. Childs and Mrs. Wm. F. Hallett served this 
committee as temporary chairman and secretary respectively. 

Subsequent meetings of great interest were held on the following 
dates, April 23rd, May 30th, June 18th, July 16-23-30, Aug. 6-13, the 
results of which will be found in detail in the pages of this volume 
which is now respectfully submitted to subscribers, of whom kind 
indulgence is requested for editorial or other errors which may appear. 

Editing Committee. 




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CENTERVILLE OLD HOME WEEK ASSOCIATION 
OFFICERS and CHAIRMEN OF COMMITTEES 



President Mr. John B. Cornish of Boston 

First Vice President Mr. Freeman M. Crosby of Boston 

Second Vice President Mr. Aaron S. Crosby of Centerville 

Secretary and Treasurer Mrs. Wm. F. Hallett of Centerville 

Toastmaster Mr. Elisha B. Worrell of Boston 

Historian Miss Julia E. Phinney of Waban 

Assistant Historian Mr. Wm. S. Phinney of Centerville 

Finance Mr. Freeman M. Crosby of Boston 

Program Mr. Charles B. Stevens of Boston 

Music Mr. Charles B. Stevens of Boston 

Sports Mr. Charles L. Ayling of Boston 

Decoration and Illumination Mr. Wm. S. Phinney of Centerville 

Fireworks Mr. Edwin H. Evans of Taunton 

Ball Mr. Freeman M. Crosby of Boston 

Church Rev. H. T. Torosyan of Centerville 

Reception Mr. Aaron S. Crosby of Centerville 

Transportation and Accommodation Mr. Cyrenius A. Lovell of Centerville 

Hall Capt. Owen Crosby of Centerville 




OLD HOME WEEK CHOIR 



Mrs. J. S. Twombly 
Mrs. F. S. Kent 
Miss Elsie Macy 
Miss May Crosby 
Mrs. F. G. Phinney 
Mrs. George H. Bowen 



Mrs. Charles B. Stevens 
Miss Lucy Joslyn 
Miss S. E. Carley 
Miss Bessie Crosby 
Mrs. Wm. C. Sears 
Mr. Geo. C. Backus 



Mr. Henry A. Stevens 
Mr. Asa W. Stevens 
Mr. John R. Jones 
Mr. Charles F. Winsor 
Mr. Fred S. Kent 
Mr. Harry L. Phinney 



Mr. Charles B. Stevens, Director 



ACCOMPANISTS 

Miss Una J. Kelley Mr. Henry A. Stevens Mr. Charles B. Stevens 

[12] 



CENTERVILLE OLD HOME WEEK ASSOCIATION 
COMMITTEES 



EXECUTIVE 
Mr. Freeman M. Crosby Mr. Cyrenius A. Lovell Mrs. Wm. F. Hallett 

Mr. Charles B. Stevens Mr. Edward W. Childs Mr. Charles L. Ayling 

Mr. William S. Phinney 

FINANCE 
Mr. A. Alton Phinney, Centerville Mr. Cyrenius A. Lovell, Centerville 

PROGRAM 
Mr. Chas. L. Ayling, Boston Miss Laura M. Bearse, Centerville 

MUSIC 
Mrs. Chas. L. Ayling, Boston Mr. Henry A. Stevens, Centerville 

SPORTS 
Mr. Harrison L. Phinney, Centerville Mr. Chas. L. Parker, Boston 

DECORATION AND ILLUMINATION 
Mr. Wm. F. Hallett, Centerville Mr. Edward W. Childs, Centerville 

Mr. Chester Bearse, Centerville Mrs. Aaron S. Crosby, Centerville 

Mr. Alonzo P. Crosby, Passaic, N. J. Miss Rose Hallett, Centerville 

Mr. Edwin H. Evans, Taunton Mr. J. P. Hallett, Centerville 

Mr. H. G. Lumbert, Centerville Mr. Wm. S. Lumbert, Centerville 

FIREWORKS COMMITTEE 
Mr. H. G. Lumbert, Centerville Mr. Jos. P. Hallett, Centerville 

Mr. Wm. S. Lumbert, Centerville 

BALL 
Mr. Lemuel F. Backus, Centerville Mrs. Chas. L. Parker, Boston 

CHURCH 

Mr. Samuel H. Hallett, Centerville Mrs. A. D. Ayling, Concord, N. H. 

Rev. Horace F. Hallett, Ashfield 

RKCEPTION 

Mrs. Ansel L. Bearse, Boston Mr. Wm. L. Crosby, Wilmar, Minn. 

Miss T. Desire Lewis, Boston Mrs. John B. Cornish, Boston 

Gen. A. D. Ayling, Concord, N. H. Miss Eunice Hallett, Centerville 

Mrs. Cyrenius A. Lovell, Centerville Mr. Shirley Marston, Boston 

Mrs. Myron L. Hinckley, Everett Mr. Alonzo P. Crosby, Passaic, N. J. 

Mr. Nathan H. Bearse, Centerville 

TRANSPORTATION AND ACCOMMODATION 
Mrs. Wm. F. Hallett, Centerville Mr. A. Alton Phinney, ( lenterville 

Mr. J. R. Crosby, Centerville Mr. J. P. Hallett, Centerville 

HALL 
Mr. Benj. F. Childs, Centerville 



A Visitors' Register will be found at the headquarters of the Bureau of Information 
in the Library. P/rasc Register. 



[13] 



Friday, August Nineteenth 



GRAND BALL 

HOWARD HALL 



MUSIC BY 

MILO BURKE'S ORCHESTRA 

OF BROCKTON 



A public reception will be held in the hall from 8 to 9 p.m., under the auspices of the 

Reception Committee, Aaron S. Crosby, Chairman, during which the Orchestra 

will render a short program 



Dancing from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. 



RECEPTION COMMITTEE FOR BALL 

Mr. and Mrs. Freeman M. Crosby 

Mr. and Mrs. Charles L. Parker 

Mr. and Mrs. Charles B. Stevens 

Mr. and Mrs. Chester Bearse 

Mr. and Mrs. Charles L. Ayling 



FLOOR DIRECTOR 
Mr. Lemuel F. Backus 



AIDS 
Mr. Wm. A. Gardner Mr. Frank E. Crocker 

Mr. Bernard C. Backus Mr. Howard G. Lumbert 



[14] 



Saturday Morning, August Twentieth 



SPORTS IN THE VICINITY OF THE "LOOKOUT" 
AT LAKE WEQUAQUET 



PUDDING BALL 

Married Men vs Unmarried Men 

Game called at 10 a.m. 
A suitable prize awarded winning team 

BASKET PICNIC 

12 M. tO 2 P.M. 

CATBOAT RACE 
Open to all Course to be announced 

First gun 2 p.m. Second gun 2.05 p.m. 

First and second Prize Cups will be awarded 

EGG RACE, FOR LADIES 

2.15 P.M. 

To take place during Yacht Race Three Prizes awarded 

TUB RACE 

2.45 P.M. 

Open to all Three Prizes awarded 

ROWBOAT RACES 

3.15 P.M. 

Class 1 for Ladies Class 2 for Men 

Distance one hundred yards and return Prizes for each Class 

MEN AND BOYS' THREE-LEGGED RACE 

3.45 P.M. 

Three Prizes awarded 
BARREL ROLLING CONTEST, FOR LADIES 

4.I5 P.M. 

Three Prizes awarded 

BOYS' SAWDUST-BAG WAR 
5 p.m. 
One Prize awarded 



Music by Burke's Brass Band of Brockton, from'n a.m. to 3 p m. 
[15] 



Saturday Evening, August Twentieth 



GRAND CONCERT 

HOWARD HALL 



Program at 8.15 o'clock 



ARTISTS 



Miss Elsie Macy, Soprano 

Mrs. Flora L. Bowen, Contralto 

Mrs. Maude Clark Marden, Violiniste 
Miss Una J. Kellev, Pianiste 

Mr. Carl Behr, Zither and Violoncello 
Mr. George C. Backus, Tenor 
Mr. John R. Jones, Baritone 

Mr. Henry A. Stevens, Tenor 

Mr. Charles F. Winsor, Bass 

Mr. Charles B. Stevens, Tenor 

A House'Program will be distributed at the door. 




;i6] 



Saturday Evening, August Twentieth 

AT 8.15 O'CLOCK 



OLD HOME WEEK CONCERT 

HOWARD HALL 



PROGRAM 



Thoughts of Home (Male Quartette) Kromer 

Messrs. C. B. and H. A. Stevens, Winsor, and Jones. 

a Absent, ) 

b The Sunshine of Thine Eyes, J- (Songs) Metcal} 

c Sunrise, J 

Mr. Backus. 

a Berceuse, 1 nr , ,, c ,-\ Codard 

j. t r- * ■ > (violoncello Soli) Vnrh* 

b La Cmquantaine, J v raclie 

Mr. Behr. 

For All Eternity Mascheroni 

Mr. Jones. 
(Violin Obbligato by Mrs. Marden.) 

a Ah! 'tis a Dream Hawley 

b Four Leaf Clover Brownell 

Mrs. Bow ex. 

The Beleaguered Sullivan 

M \le Quartette. 
(With Piano Accompaniment.) 

June Pease 

Miss Macy. 

Dews of the Summer Night. (Duet from "Don Munio") Buck 

Mrs. Bo wen, Mr. C. B. Stevens. 

a Romanza, \ (ZUher Soli) Bchr 

Mr. Behr. 

Calm is the Night. (Duet) Goetze 

Miss Macy, Mr. Jones. 

a Traumerei, 1 (rr ■ „. ,. ,,-.,, v>- „ \ Schumann 

b Standchen, J ^ Tnos : N M ' lm Cell °' Piano) Pache 

Mrs. Marden, Miss Kelley, Mr. Behr. 

Long Day Closes Sulliva n 

Male Quartette. 

[17] 



Sunday Morning, August Twenty-first 

AT IO.30 O'CLOCK 



OLD HOME WEEK SERVICE IN THE CHURCH 



The Pastor, Rev. H. T. Torosyan, will preach a special sermon, and the following 
ministers will participate: — - 

Rev. Elihu Loomis, Centerville 

Rev. B. H. Weston, West Newbury, Mass. 

Rev. Wm. C. Detling, Glenville, Ohio 

The following special music will be rendered by the Old Home W 7 eek Choir: 

To Thee, O Country Eichberg 

Our Land, O Lord . .' Schnecker 

The Ninety and Nine (Solo by Charles B. Stevens) Campion 

ft ft 

Sunday Evening 

AT 7 O'CLOCK 

PUBLIC SERVICE IN THE CHURCH 



After a brief song service, remarks and addresses will be made by the following ministers, 
the greater number of whom are ex-pastors of this church : — 

Rev. B. H. Weston, West Newbury, Mass. 

Rev. Elihu Loomis, Centerville 

Rev. W. C. Detling, Glenville, Ohio 

Rev. Elmer F. Newell, Acushnet, Mass. 

Rev. S. L. Loomis, Boston, Mass. 

Rev. Howard Fisher, Cliftondale, Mass. 

There will also he 
Recitations by Children, as follows: — ■ 

" The Light on Deadman's Bar" Florence Southward Hinckley 

" Little Brown Hands " Harvey Curtis Crosby 

" Twenty Times a Day " Zilpha Mae Lovell 

" Old Friends " Margarilla Lapham Crocker 

" When Grandma was a Girl " Genieve Crocker Bearse 

" Mama's Advice to Dolly " Dorcas Mendall Stevens 

A Duet, "Our Flag," by Masters Ralph and Victor Stevens 

Anthems, duets, etc., will be rendered by special choir. 

*Mr. Asa W. Stevens will sing, "The Golden Land of Peace" King 

*Mr. Stevens is in his seventy first year, was baptized in the church which preceded the present edifice 
(erected on the same site in 1826). Sang in the old church as a boy — has sung in the present church, of 
which he is a member, during the past forty years and has been choirmaster for twelve years, which posi- 
tion he still holds. 

[l8] 



Monday, August Twenty-second 



AT 3 P.M. 



PUBLIC EXERCISES AT THE CHURCH 



Organ Prelude Miss Una J. Kelley 

Address by President Mr. John B. Cornish 

Then Gather Sons and Daughters of the Old Home State. .( >i ,i> Home Week Choir 

In Memory of Those Who Have Passed On President Cornish 

Introduction of Historian and Reading of Historical Paper 

Ode to Centerville Written by Susan J. Phinney Cornish 

(To be sung by all, standing, to the tune "America.") 

Address by Toastmaster Mr. Elisha B. Worrell, Boston 

Sons of Cape Cod Mr. Alonzo P. Crosby, Passaic, N. J. 

The Old Home and the New Dr. Edward P. Crowell, Brooklyn, N.Y. 

My Early, Home, Sweet Cherished Spot Old Home Week Choir 

Home Industries Mr. Aaron S. Crosby, Centerville 

Our Boys in the West Mr. Albert N. Lewis, Willmar, Minn. 

Old Oaken Bucket 

(To be sung by all, standing.) 

Our Elderly People Mr. Russell Marston 

The Church Rev. H. T. Torosyan 

National Anthem Old Home W^eek Choir 

( >ur land, O Lord, with songs of praise, 

Shall in Thy strength rejoice 

The Public Schools Dr. John E. Pratt, Dumont, N. J. 

The Town Meeting Mr. Herbert N. Hinckley, Vineyard Haven 

Woman! Oueen of the Home Gen. A. D. Ayling, Concord, N. H. 

The Dearest Spot on Earth to Me is Home, Sweet Home. .Old Home Week Choir 

The Cape Cod Sailor Capt. James D. Kelley, Centerville 

The Cape Cod Soldier Mr. Edward W. Childs, Centerville 

Home, Sweet Home 

(To be sung by all, standing.) 

Organ Postlude Miss Kelley 

Words of Songs are printed on pages 57, 71, and 91. 




;&2 I Vl -W'J . 

"it 




[19] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

As the preceding pages present an outline of events for the entire 
week, it has been deemed appropriate to insert at this point extracts 
from a review of the proceedings which appeared in the Barnstable 
Patriot of Aug. 29, 1904. 



OLD HOME WEEK IN CENTERVILLE 

Friday, Aug. 19, 1904, the day anxiously awaited by those able to return to Center- 
ville to assist in celebrating "Old Home Week," dawned clear and bright. Long 
before 8 p.m., the advertised hour for the public reception in Howard Hall, the Illumina- 
tion Committee was busily at work. From the post-office to the southern entrance of 
the grounds of Howard Hall, wire had been stretched in zig-zag lines across Main 
St. This wire was closely hung with lighted Japanese lanterns, making, together 
with the lanterns displayed by private individuals in the decoration of their houses 
(as far south as Bearse & Phinney's store), a very brilliant and effective illumination, 
and one worthy of all the praise accorded it. 

The interior of Howard Hall was very tastefully and daintily decorated to represent 
a drawing room. White bunting, relieved by branches of cedar, with long, white 
draperies at the windows, were the means used to produce the harmonious whole. 
Prominently hung over the stage was a portrait of Air. Howard Marston, from whom 
Howard Hall derived its name. Over the stage were also grouped America's flags, 
the red, white, and blue, while white hydrangeas, massed at the stage corners, served 
as a setting for the orchestra, which discoursed sweet music during the reception from 
8 until 9 o'clock. 

President John B. Cornish and wife of Boston, First Vice President Freeman M. 
Crosby and wife of Boston, Second Vice President- Aaron S. Crosby and Mrs. Crosby 
of Centerville, and Secretary and Treasurer Mrs. Wm. F. Hallett and Mr. Hallett, con- 
stituted the receiving party. After removing their wraps, the guests were taken in 
charge by the Reception Committee, who proved themselves most acceptable ushers. 
There were about 250 present. As a social, informal affair, Centerville has never 
seen its equal. Guests were constantly coming and going, those interested in the 
Old Home Week Ball being among the later arrivals. 

The ball, under the management of Chairman Freeman M. Crosby, was a pro- 
nounced success. The hall decorations of green and white served as an effective 
background for the many beautiful costumes worn by the ladies. Many stayed to 
witness the dance. Many stayed to enjoy the dancing, so that at times the floor was 
a "w r ee bit" crowded. Ice cream and cake were served during the evening. In the 
small hours the party separated, tired, but all agreed it was one of the rare good times 
for which Centerville is famous. 

In spite of Saturday's hard storm, which proved so disappointing to many, a good 
time was enjoyed by all. Upon the arrival of Milo Burke's Band from Brockton, they 
were escorted to Howard Hall, where about 75 assembled to listen to their plaving. 
At 12 o'clock all adjourned for lunch. After dinner, the rain having ceased and word 
having been noised through the village that the band would play in the hall instead 
of at the lake, some 200 persons gathered to enjoy the music and talk over 
old times. 

Saturday evening was devoted to a concert in charge of Prof. Charles B. Stevens 
of Boston, whose connection with the concert was a guarantee of first-class music. 
An audience of over 200 persons gathered and listened to the following program: — 

(See page 17) 

Sunday's morning audience so filled the church as to necessitate the use of extra 
chairs. Here, as in the hall, cedar was used for the principal decoration, while flags 

[20] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

on the gallery and golden rod banked about the platform gave the needed color. Many 
pictures of the prominent men of the village, who have passed away, were hung on 
the walls of the church, the same having been used in the hall Friday and Saturday. 

The special music rendered by the Old Home Week Choir was fine. Especially 
appreciated were the solos by Mrs. J. S. Twombly and Prof. Chas. B. Stevens. Rev. 
H. T. Torosyan, pastor of the church, preached the sermon, taking as his theme, 
"Home." It was most excellent, appealing alike to the old and young, and appre- 
ciated by all. Revs. Elihu Loomis, Wm. C. Detling, B. H. Weston, Howard Fisher, 
and Rev. Mr. Conibeare participated in the service. 

At 7 p.m. the church was again filled to overflowing. Interspersed with music by 
male quartette and recitations by children of the Sunday School were addresses by 
the following named ministers: Rev. Wm. C. Detling, Rev. E. Loomis, Rev. B. H. 
Weston, Rev. Howard Fisher, Rev. Elmer F. Newell, Rev. Samuel L. Loomis, D. D., 
and Rev. Robert McAllister. Rev. Mr. Haley, from Craigville, pronounced the 
benediction. 

Monday's exercises commenced at 3 o'clock in the church with an organ voluntary 
by Miss Una J. Kelley, followed by Address of Welcome by President John B. Cornish, 
who in his genial manner bade us "all welcome." The choir rendered "Then gather 
Sons and Daughters of the Old Bay State." President Cornish then drank a toast 
in memory of those who have passed on, with response by Male Quartette. The 
historian, Miss Julia E. Phinney, of Waban, "one of Centerville's brightest daughters," 
was introduced to the audience. At her request, Mrs. John B. Cornish read the 
detailed history as compiled by Miss Phinney. For nearly one hour Mrs. Cornish 
held the undivided attention of her audience. An ode to Centerville, written by 
Mrs. Susan J. Phinney Cornish and sung by all to the tune of "America," came next. 
Owing to unforeseen circumstances, which were unavoidable, our toastmaster, Mr. 
Elisha B. Worrell, was unable to be present, Mr. Cornish reading at this time a mes- 
sage sent him by Mr. Worrell. The following toasts were called for and responded 
to: — 

(See page 19) 

Space forbids many comments. All responses were eagerly listened to. While 
some called for wit, others were reminiscent, and all were very good. 

Music by the congregation and the Old Home Week Choir, led by Prof. Chas. B. 
Stevens, served to vary the program and break the monotony. Singing of "Home, 
Sweet Home," by every one, served as a fitting close to a finely rendered program, 
which from beginning to end held not a dull moment. 

At 8 p.m., at the beach, Chairman Edwin H. Evans, assisted by his committee, 
started the beach illumination of fireworks, which lasted over an hour, followed by 
the burning of the huge bonfire, which more than 200 people had congregated to watch. 
The wind blowing strong on shore, the flames were driven low over the beach hills. 
The moon peering through dark clouds and a heavy surf rolling up on the beach, to 
the very base of the bonfire, made a picture not soon to be forgotten. 

Again Tuesday, the day set for the picnic at the lake, started with rain and a hard 
blow; as if in pity for the many disappointed, by 10 o'clock the weather cleared. 
Chairman Chas. L. Ayling of Boston was in charge of the sports, and if any one failed 
to enjoy the day, it was not the fault of Chairman Ayling. The prize winners' names 
and the races won follow: — 

Pudding Ball — Won by unmarried men; score, 30— 2fi. 

Yacht Race — First prize, cup, William Gardner; second prize, cup. Freeman M. Crosby. 

Egg Race for Ladies — First prize, Miss Bennett; second prize, Mrs. Elwood Wagner; third prize, 
Mrs ( ). A. Barnard. 

Tub Race — First and third prizes, Joseph Fuller; second prize, David Kelley. 

Rowboat Race (Ladies) — First prize, Miss Molly Bearse; second prize, Miss Florence S. Hartshorn; 
third prize. Miss May Crosby. 

Rowboat Race (Boys and Men) — First prize, S. Hallett; second prize, Howard Lumbert; third 
prize, F. Austin. 

Three-legged Race — First, Messrs. S. Crosby and F. Xickerson; second, Kelley and Lumbert; third, 
Austin and Phinney. 

Ladies' Barrel-rolling Contest — First, Miss Hinckley; second, Miss Chase; third, Miss Oilman. 

Sawdust Bag War — First Prize, Harold Lewis. (Only one prize.) 

Music by the band during the entire day did much to enliven the time. 
With the awarding of the prizes for the tub race, the Old Home Week celebration 
exercises for 1904 closed. 

[21] 




CHARLES B. STEVENS 

Chairman Program and.Music Committees 




FREEMAN M. CROSBY 

First Vice President 

Chairman Finance and Hall Committees 




CHARLES L. AYLING 

Chairman Committee on Sports 





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Rl'SSELL MARSTOX 




WILLIAM S. PHIXXEY 

Chairman Decoration and Illumination Committee 

Assistant Historian 




CYRENIUS A. LOVELL 

Chairman Transportation and Accommodation Committee 




UNA J. KELLEY 
Organist 




SUMMER RESIDENCE OF ELISHA B. WORRELL 




KEY. H. T. TOROSYAN 



Sunday Morning, August Twenty-first 

AT IO.3O O'CLOCK 



OLD HOME WEEK SERVICE IN THE CHURCH 




HOME 

REV. H. T. TOROSYAN 

HE Hebrew was in the land of captivity. He sat 
down by the rivers of Babylon; yea, he wept 
when he remembered Zion. He was amidst the 
stately palaces and magnificent hanging gardens 
of the grand capital of Assyria; but when the 
vision of Jerusalem, his native home, swept before 
his eves, his heart was too full to check its over- 
How. Tears streamed down his cheeks, as he 
cried, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right 
hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember 
thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I prefer not 
Jerusalem above my chief joy." 

Was this burst of enthusiasm and emotion for Jerusalem captured, 
pillaged, and ruined by the legions of Nebuchadnezzar? Yes. 
Its temple was ransacked and demolished; its palaces and public 
buildings were razed to the ground; its walls were torn down, and its 
inhabitants carried into captivity. Bui it was his home. Many 
tender associations attached him to it. Its walls and streets, its 
former palaces and gardens and gorgeous temple were hallowed 
by tens of thousands of sacred memories. It was his native land. 
The house or the hut in which he was born and brought up was 
there. 

An American, whose knowledge of French was very limited, 
went to Paris. He grew fearfully homesick, hearing no language 
he could much understand. One night, while he was lying awake, 
he heard a dog bark, and jumped up delighted, saying to his com- 
panion, "Ah! there's some real genuine English!" 

His remark provokes our laughter; but who can fathom its pathos?' 
Who can analyze that instinctive and spontaneous emotion or passion 
which we call Patriotism — love of the fatherland or homeland?' 
The Swiss love their mountains; the Italians love their sunny Italy; 

[37] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

even the Eskimos of Alaska love their bleak, desolate country. True, 
the supply of food among these five thousand northern inhabitants 
is limited, and they are, at times, in clanger of starving; but in their 
estimation they are living in the most beautiful country in the world. 

One Eskimo who was brought here some years since was stricken 
with consumption and set out to return; and every morning his 
first question was, "Have you seen ice?" If he could only get a 
glimpse of an iceberg, he could die in peace. 

It is a natural and generous impulse to love the country which 
gave us birth. It is an inborn sentiment which prompts us to love 
the land by whose institutions we have been molded, by whose 
laws protected and defended. What power is that which can erase 
from our minds and hearts the hamlet or the town, the hut or the 
mansion, whose atmosphere we first breathed and with whose soil 
and scenery innumerable associations of our lives are linked ? It is 
this deep-rooted and abiding love of Home that blurs the eyes of the 
dying soldier with the visions of an old homestead far away, that 
follows persistently the business man through the clamoring world, 
that haunts the minds of men and women, boys and girls, separated 
from the soil in which they were reared. We love our fatherland 
because somewhere it embraces a city, town, or village, the scenes of 
our bovhood or girlhood; and the most precious spot in this city, 
town, or village is the home of our childhood and youth. 

" Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home. " 

What is it that fills our minds with endearing thoughts when we are 
away from home ? Your house is built of bricks and stones, of sills 
and posts and boards. Does the architectural combination of these 
and other materials constitute a home? Do we call a place "home" 
simply because we were born and brought up there? No, no. We 
call a place "home" because we have found in it a sphere over which 
love reigned supreme, and in which we breathed the atmosphere 
of kindness, indulgence, and affection. Can there be a loveless 
home ? 

According to the Greek legend, when Zeus was married to Hera, 
Earth came to the wedding and brought as a wedding present a 
branch full of golden apples. This Hera sent to the Garden of 
Hesperides, the Greek Paradise, far over the Western Sea, in order 
that the most precious fruit should grow r in the loveliest garden of 
the world. Over these golden apples she placed as guards the four 
daughters of Atlas. These maidens were named Aegle (Brightness), 

[38] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

Erythia (Blushing Modesty), Hestia (The Spirit of the Hearth), and 
Arethusa (Ministering). 

The Hesperides, the Garden of Eden of modern times, is the 
Home. These four divinities are the guardians of this paradise, — 
Brightness, Modesty, The Spirit of the Hearth, and Ministrations. 
In a true Home trust and contentment diffuse their warm glow of 
brightness and cheerfulness; an atmosphere of simplicity and modesty 
characterizes the movements of the members of the family; a spiritual 
bond draws them closer to the hearth; and helpfulness, gentleness, 
and sincere affection lift each other's burden, comfort one another 
in sorrow, and strengthen one another's hand and heart. 

" Home is where there's one to love! 
Home is where there's one to love us!" 

for, without hearts, without love, can there be a Home? "It is the 
heart that makes the Home, whether the eye rests on a potato patch 
or a flower garden. " 

The Home is the only institution that is organized exclusively 
upon love. Nations grow out of the need of mutual protection; 
courts are founded upon justice; schools center upon the necessity 
of knowledge and culture ; armies are organized and navies are formed 
for self-protection; but the very essence which gives existence to 
Home is love. The soul and center of Home is found in the supreme 
command, "Thou shalt love," and by its very nature Home offers 
the best interpretation of life's sovereign law and claims a most 
important part in the development and progress of the human race. 
If it is true that we can realize the Kingdom of God — that is, the 
Kingdom of Brotherliness and Love — only by making the highest 
ideas and feelings engendered in the Home universal, is it strange 
that the destinies of nations, yea, of the world, hang on the character 
of Homes? Therefore, the grandest work that two people can do 
is to create a Home, filled with the faith of God and love of man; 
for the Home is the true unit of our social life. It is the foundation 
of the church and of the commonwealth. 

What an important position it holds! Every physical agency is 
employed primarily for the refinement of the Home; for refined 
Homes are the end of civilization. All the work of the world, I 
say, — the railroading, navigating, mining, manufacturing, invent- 
ing, teaching, writing, fighting, — are done, first of all, to secure each 
family to the quiet of its own hearth and to surround it with grace 
and culture and beauty. And, in turn, the mission of Home is to 
send forth to the world men and women of intelligence, of exalted 

[39] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

sentiments and ideas, and of sincere devotion to God and the common 
weal. Such men are the leaders of the world and makers of destinies. 
If, therefore, two people have clone nothing else but raised a Home 
consecrated to the love of God and to the love of man, all praise to 
their names! They are the builders of the world's destinies. The 
moment that the Home disappears in its strength and purity, the 
foundations of the Church and of the State shall surely be shaken; 
for the elements which constitute a Home are those which will make 
this world a heaven. The man and woman who found a true Home 
are, most assuredly, the harbingers of the Kingdom of God which 
is "righteousness, peace, and joy." What is the ability to spellbind 
great audiences with oratory, or wisdom that may command a seat 
on the professor's chair or the judge's bench, or the opportunity to 
lead armies against the enemy, compared to that which can insure 
and preside over a true Home ? We are apt to imagine that the bar- 
racks of our standing army with its rolling drum and fluttering flags, 
and the fleet of warships with its guns and torpedoes, are the strength 
and protection of our country. But away with such delusions! 
Would you see the secret of the strength of a powerful nation ? Look 
at her Homes. The citizens, happy among the loved ones who gather 
about their hearthstones, while the evening of a w T ell-spent day closes 
in scenes and sounds that are dearest, — they shall save the nation 
when the squadrons are useless and the barracks are empty. 

One night the Union and Confederate armies were encamped on 
the opposite banks of the Potomac and the bands on either side 
were rousing the soldiers to the wildest pitch of enthusiasm for the 
coming battle by playing, for the North, such strains as The Star- 
spangled Banner, and for the South, such music as Dixie. At last 
one of the bands struck up Home, Sweet Home, and at once all 
bands on both sides of the river joined in. For a time far nobler 
ideas than narrowed patriotism swayed the soldiers' hearts, and 
before the hallowed memories of Home all animosity and hatred 
were swallowed up in victory. Home! it has an ennobling, purifying 
power. Home purified, the world will don its spotless robe of 
righteousness. Home exalted and spiritualized, mankind will witness 
the day when 



when 



"The war-drum throbb'd no longer, and the battle flags were furl'd 
In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world; " 



"The common sense of most shall hold a fretful realm in awe, 
And the kindly earth shall slumber, lapt in universal law." 

[40] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

Now let us have a brief survey of this most important institution, 
called Home. Here is a plain Home; but love dwells therein; and 
what a romance, what witchery it possesses! Here to the wife the 
plainest man becomes a wonderful being, and if father says a thing, 
it is listened to as if it were the oracle of God. Here the memory 
of vanished charms and faded beauty clings to the wife who remains 
a charming and lovely woman long after she is a plain, middle-aged 
woman everywhere else. Here the grandfather's stories are never found 
tedious, and grandmother's gingerbread is alw r ays delicious. Here even 
the homeliest girls are all pleasant and the boys are all little heroes. 

What a refuge, what a sure haven of repose and peace from the 
storms and perils of the world is such a Home! Life is stormy and 
full of difficulties. Many of us must struggle for existence. The cares 
of this world, many gales of misfortunes and disappointments blow 
hard against our sails, tear them and shiver our masts. Home! 
Blessed harbor! There we go for repairs in the dry dock of quiet 
life. Are we in sorrow 7 and grief? 

"There blend the ties that strengthen 
Our hearts in hours of grief. " 

Is our life one of toil and suffering? Is the world outside cold and 
dreary and unsympathetic ? What a pleasure to return to the sun- 
shine of happy faces and the warmth of hearts we love! Home is 
a place of peace, a shelter from all terror, doubt, or division. In 
life's battle we may find much abuse and slander and distraction, 
but into the Home such things never find their way. There is the 
place where we may talk of our own achievements and success without 
being charged with self-adulation. There is the place where we may 
discuss our plans and proceedings without being looked at with 
ill will or envy. There is the place where we may lounge without 
being thought discourteous or ungraceful. There is the place 
where we may make mistakes without hearing harsh criticism or 
becoming an object of gossip. There is the place where we may 
express our affections without being thought silly. There is the 
place where we may forget the hurly-burly of this life, our annoy- 
ances, exasperations, and troubles. What a blessed refuge is Home! 
Have you no such Home? Have you no one to cheer you in your 
house, no one to greet you with affectionate welcome, no one you 
love to meet you ? Do not the precious memories of bygone years, 
full of sweetness, love, and tenderness, envelop your mind and thrill 
your heart with deep emotions? If not, you do not know one thou- 
sandth part of the real pleasures of life. 

[4i] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

Let us, for a moment, delve into the secrets of Home life to discover 
the power which brings it into existence. What is Home ? 

As some one says, Home is " the golden setting in which the bright- 
est jewel is 'mother.'" A good mother, says another, is "husband's 
dearest companion and helpmeet, son's wisest counselor, daughter's 
best confidante, God's best gift to the home." An intelligent and 
good mother is "the keystone which cements the family arch"; 
she is the queen of the Home, the center and soul of the Home. A 
man may build a mansion or a palace; he may decorate and adorn 
it with magnificence and luxury; but, poor man! he cannot turn it 
into a Home; no man can do that. It is a woman, only a woman, 
a woman all by herself if she must or prefers, who can turn a palace 
or a hut into a home. Therefore, the mother by the influences she 
brings around her Home is deciding the physical, intellectual, moral, 
and eternal destiny of the race. 

O the power of mother! O the love of mother! Who can fathom 
the inmost thoughts of a true mother's heart! Her first care and her 
deepest solicitude are her children. 

An aged woman, whose youngest child had been dead twenty 
years, lay dying in her home. It was midnight when she aroused 
from a stupor, and inquired, " Is it night ? " " Oh, yes, it is midnight, " 
was the reply. "Are the children all in?" was her anxious inquiry. 
Then she closed her eyes and died. In her last thoughts she had 
gone back to the days when her children were young, and the mother 
instinct and love asserted themselves in the question, "Are the children 
in?" 

The mother's love — who does not know something of it ? One 
day of sickness w T ill do more to convince a young man that his mother 
is his best and strongest friend than fifty volumes of proverbs. She 
wields tremendous power in the moulding of the Home and the race, 
all through love, the greatest and the most subtle and invincible force 
on earth or in heaven. 

Why should mothers complain that their lot is insignificant? 
Insignificant! On the contrary, it is full of dignity and importance. 
True, they do not lead armies; they do not hold important "positions 
in State or national affairs; they do not spellbind immense audiences 
with the subtlety and force of oratory; but they are moulding the minds 
and souls of children who will be the leaders of the nation. It was 
the mothers of ancient Rome that made Rome great. It was the 
Spartan mothers that made the Spartans heroes. History abounds 
with such examples. True mothers are and ever shall be to the end 

[42] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts'] 

of time the builders of Homes and safeguards of the social, political, 
and religious world; all through love; for that love binds the children's 
hearts to the mother's and holds them. The memory of that pure, 
unselfish love clings to their children long after they are gone from 
home. Who can erase the first impressions of childhood, the first 
touches of mother's loving fingers? 

There was a Scotch soldier dying in New Orleans and a Scotch 
minister came to give him the consolation of the Gospel. The man 
turned over on his pillow and said, " Don't talk to me about religion. " 
Then the minister began to sing a familiar hymn, beginning with the 
words — 

"O mother, dear Jerusalem, 
When shall I come to thee!" 

He sang it to the tune of Dundee, and everybody in Scotland knows 
that; and as he began to sing, the dying soldier turned over on his 
pillow and said to the minister, "Where did you learn that?" 
"Why," replied the minister, "my mother taught me that." "So 
did mine," said the dying soldier. He listened; tears streamed 
down his cheeks, and his hardened heart melted under the influence 
of that hymn taught long ago by a devoted mother. 

Can any one efface the tender memories of a mother's love or 
forget the wishes, aspirations, and prayers of a mother's soul ? 

A company of young men who had escaped a terrific charge from 
the enemy in one of the fiercest battles of the Civil W r ar were picking 
their way across the blood-deluged and death-strewn field to rejoin 
their company. All about lay the dead, and from every side came 
the heart-rending cries and groans from the wounded and dying. 
One noble-faced young fellow, whose life was fast ebbing away from 
a great wound in his side, particularly attracted the attention of the 
party. The dying boy, too weak to call out, had lifted himself upon 
one arm and was feebly beckoning the passers-by to come to him. 
Thinking possibly the poor fellow wanted water, or desired to send 
some message home, one went over to him. Bending down and 
putting his car close to the parched lips he heard these words, "Pray 
for me; oh, pray for me, I am dying." 

And then, as the stranger knelt there among the dead and dying 
on that awful battle-field, it almost broke his heart to be compelled 
to refuse this last request of a dying soldier. He could give no 
ray of light to that soul struggling for help; for he had not yet found 
Him who is the Light of the world. Sadly, and in tears, he was com- 
pelled to say, "Comrade, I can't prav; you must pray for vourself. " 

[43]' 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

The dying soldier looked hopeless and sad for a moment. Then 
he closed his eyes and began to move his lips in prayer. The stranger 
bent closer to catch his words. As he did so, he heard this most 
touching and eloquent prayer: "O God," the soldier whispered, 
"hear mother's prayer! O God, answer mother's prayer!" 

A moment after, a look of sweetest peace came over his face. 
He opened his eyes once more, seeming to thank the stranger for 
staying by him, and then closed them for the last time. 

O the tender memories of Home, father, sister, brother — 
mother! What uplifting, ennobling, purifying influences radiate 
from them! Our lives are richer and better through their noble 
souls, through their sacrifices, through their prayers! 

Prayer 

O God, grant that this Old Home Week celebration may be a 
special means of reviving in our imaginations and thoughts vivid, 
tender memories of those old times when we breathed happily the 
atmosphere of home life, when we were cheered and warmed by the 
sunshine of father's, mother's, brother's or sister's love; and may 
these happy memories purge our hearts from all dross and strengthen 
the conviction that the stability of the Church and the State, the 
welfare of the human race, and the true happiness and prosperity 
of each individual depend upon the power and the purity of Home! 
We ask these in the spirit of our Master, Jesus Christ. Amen. 




[44] 




JOHN B. CORNISH 

President 



ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT CORNISH 




Ladies and gentlemen: — 

WO hundred and eighty -three years ago, when 
our Pilgrim fathers were in public meeting as- 
sembled at a place not far from here, chief 
Samoset appeared, and on behalf of his tribe said 
to them, "Welcome Englishmen, welcome." 

While I am not adorned with the traditional 
war-paint, beads, and feathers that marked chief 
Samoset, yet as by your kind indulgence I am 
permitted for a brief hour to play the part of 
chief of the Chequaquet tribe, on behalf of the 
natives and the people of this goodly village, 1 extend to you all a 
most cordial welcome. 

Welcome everybody from everywhere. 
Welcome to this dear old home by the sea, lake, and forest, amid 
which it nestles like a gem in a galaxy of Nature's jewels. Welcome 
to these festivities; welcome to these hallowed scenes of your child- 
hood, with their charms and traditions. 

In far-away Texas there grows a modest little flower whose tiny 
petals always point to the north, whatever the course of the wind 
or weather. So the heart of every true Cape Codder, wherever his 
lot be cast, ever beats fondly and true to this "loved spot which his 
infancy knew," and with the loyalty and affection of the true lover. 

The old home is ever with him like a shrine set up in his heart, 
before which he maintains that which is akin to religious devotion, 
and it has in it an element from which grows a love of country and 
which finds its culmination in patriotism. 

Wendell Phillips, born with the bluest of Beacon Hill blood in 
his veins, but whose life was marked with the spirit of the most rigid 

[471 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts'] 

and simple democracy, said that a thing without sentiment was a 
thing without life, and history everywhere records this fact. 

Sentiment is the potent factor that is focusing our energies and 
centralizing our affections here at this time, — a sentiment that is 
born in such homes as made Centerville what it has been and is, 
which crystallizes into that which makes for good society, and which 
in its last analysis is the best type of true, loyal, patriotic, Christian 
citizenship. 

So let us renew old friendships and associations, again take the 
hand which perchance we have not clasped for many years, remem- 
bering the advice of Polonius to his son Laertes, in Hamlet. 

" Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, 
Grapple them to thy soul \\ ith hoops of steel. " 

Fair village of our nativity, we ne'er would leave thee; but if life's 
duties compel us to wander away from thy borders for a season, we 
are always glad when permitted to retrace our steps and tread again 
thy meadows, hills, and shores; and it is the heart-wish of every true 
son and daughter that they may be permitted to spend the autumn 
of life here, and in the quiet of life's closing days to look adown the 
western slope and have our faces lighted with the sunset glow that 
softens and mellows the heart after the years of struggle, and when 
life's winter comes on apace and its dusky shadows flit athwart our 
faces, shutting out from our natural eyes the light, true to thy spirit of 
mother-love thou wilt gather us to thy bosom, there to rest and sleep 
with the fathers. 

So 

Let those who will boast of their stately halls, 
Let those who will vaunt of their cities grand, 

But we will sing of our childhood's home 

Among wooded groves and wave-washed sand. 

Yes, here would we pitch our tents, — here tarry, 
And 'mid Nature's enchanting scenes, we'd fill 

Our lives with all that is best of earth, 
In this dear old home of Centerville. 




[48] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 
IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO HAVE PASSED ON 

PRESIDENT CORNISH 

Friends, in the exuberance of our spirits and the fulness of our 
joy at this time, there comes a gentle tapping, tapping at the inner 
doors of our hearts, and as we open them we behold the faces of those 
who have gone on — beyond our keeping; faces of those still near and 
dear to us in sweet and holy memory; faces of those who loved us in 
the days gone by; whose lives were an inspiration to high and noble 
living, and who were bound to us by every tie of family and friendship; 
faces of those who so largely made Centerville what it was and is, 
and who, if alive, would be with us now to add to the success and 
pleasure of Old Home Week Celebration. I ask you now to, in 
spirit, drink with me a silent toast to their memory, — may we think 
of them as being with us, and may the thought illumine our hearts 
and give a keener zest to the enjoyment of this occasion. 

*Blest be the ground where our loved ones repose, 
Honored each shrine where our forefathers rest; 
Here where their voices in worship arose, 
We tribute bring to their memories blest. 
(Sung by M;ile Quartette.) 
♦Written and arranged for Male Quartette by Charles B. Stevens. 




INTRODUCTION OF JULIA E. PHINNEY, HISTORIAN 

The complete "annals of this quiet neighborhood" would show 
a larger development of gifts and successes along different lines, 
professional and otherwise, than would at first thought seem true. 
In the law, ministry, music, teaching, and in the walks of commercial 
life its children have left credit marks all along the way, and you 
will have oral evidence of it here to-day. 

On an occasion like this a brief history of the principal features 
and events of our village life is indispensable, and we have allotted the 
task of presenting us with such facts as she could gather, to our 
Historian, one of Centerville's brightest daughters, Miss Julia E. 
Phinney, who has given much thought and labor in preparing a paper 
which will now be read at her request, by Mrs. John B. Cornish.* 

♦Historical Paper on page 95. 

[49] 




SUSAN J. PHIXXEV CORNISH 



ODE TO CENTERVILLE 

WRITTEN BY SUSAN J. PHINNEY CORNISH 



Dear home-land by the sea 
Our hearts all turn to thee. 

In these glad days. 
Thy sons and daughters too, 
With loyal hearts and true, 
Return to give to you 

Their loving praise. 



Sweet mother-land so blest, 
We come to thee for rest 

And gala day. 
Thou bright spot of the earth, 
We're proud thou gav'st us birth, 
And now with songs and mirth, 

We homage pay. 



No skies so fair as thine, 
No waters brighter shine, 

No hills so green. 
And when at last we rest, 
We shall indeed be blest. 
If on thine own fair breast. 

We lie serene. 



;o 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

There has been provided for your entertainment and edification 
to-day, a feast of good things which I know we will all enjoy. 

The rich and delicate viands intellectual were to be served to you 
by one of Centerville's best chefs in that line. His specialty was 
Toasts, of which he had a goodly variety, some plain and well done, 
some spicy, some rare and crisp, and some creme de la creme. 

It is with profound personal regret that 1 am obliged to announce 
that our Toastmaster, Elisha B. Worrell, is unavoidably absent. 
Business engagements of a mandatory character, over which he had 
no control, compel his absence; but wherever he may be we know his 
heart is here. In his absence I ask your sympathy and broad charity 
for the crudeness which must mark the introductions 



[Mr. Cornish then read the following letter from Mr. Worrell] 

180 Franklin St., Buffalo, N. V. 
Friday, Aug. 19, iqo4. 
John B. Cornish, Esq., 

President Old Home Week. 
Centerville, Mass. 

Yours of 15th inst., asking that if I am not to lie present < )ld Home Week, to send 
something to be read at Monday's meeting, is at hand. This letter is my reply. 

In a few hours the beginning of celebration will occur. It is a great disappoint- 
ment not to be present, but it is impossible for me to be. 

"Old Home Week!" How the phrase stirs me! 

When I think of the "old home," it is not only of the modest cottage in Phinney's 
Cane, but of the whole village. As I grow older, I am increasingly grateful fur three 
things, all of which Centerville gave me. 

1st. The years spent in school, under faithful teachers. 

2nd. The varied experiences and training which came from five years with Mr. 
Kelley, where the range of work was from cleaning a house to registering letters; and 
from weighing nails, and measuring molasses and cotton cloth, to recording mortgage 
bills of sale and issuing marriage certificates — an unusual training for a mere boy — 
and the impressions of those close relations with Mr. kcllev, for that period, leave 
with me a lasting conviction of his methodical habits, his kindness, and his honesty. 

It does not detract from the above-mentioned two, to say that the third cause for 
gratitude is the most important, viz.: the "old home" itself, with its simple life all 
inwrought with the teaching of noble ideals. 

That home which has been in the family for nearly one hundred vears; that home 
with its rich clusters of precious memories; that home where the never silent pines 
join the incessant rippling of the old pond, in speaking a language, we, as a family, 
perfectly understand, is indeed a sacred spot to me, as it is also, I am glad to say, 
to those nearest and dearest to me. 

What secrets could that "old home" tell! The silent spinning-wheel and the 
more than one well-thumbed Bible, are types which speak eloquentlv of the home 
life that was serious and earnest with self-respecting toil, and of the faith which gave 
new meaning and dignity to the toil, and imparted to the lives which performed it 
a serene and abiding joy. 

To write all that is in my heart would make too long a letter, but all will be in- 
cluded by saying that I venerate everything which bears the "Centerville" or "Cape 
Cod" trade-mark, beginning with cranberries and ending with the men and women 
we have known and loved, the memory of whose true, self-sacrificing lives Stirs the 
soul as does sweet music amid the hush of twilight, when the day, with its work, is done. 




ELISHA B. WORRELL 
Toastmaster 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centeruille, Massachusetts] 

I will conclude by giving the few verses of one of the late Doctor Thomas N. Stone's 
poems (himself an honored son of the Cape) which I have memorized, and should 
recite, if present, in introducing the first toast, viz.: "Sons of Cape Cod." 

That I may not be accused of any literary villainy by those present who may be 
familiar with the poem referred to, I will state that in a few instances I somewhat 
changed the text to better suit this special occasion. 

I will also add that this communication is purely a letter, and with exception of 
poem, is not, in either thought or expression, a copy of anything which I would have 
spoken had I served in person, as toastmaster. 

POEM 

Cape Cod's our mother; we, her sons, 

As brothers, greet you here. 

And spread upon our festal board, 

the Pilgrims' humble cheer. 

Our mother's sons have borne her name 

To many a distant shore. 
Where southern seas their ripples dash, 

Where northern breakers roar. 

They're chasing whales 'mid Arctic ice, 

They're beating 'round the Horn, 
But not a son's ashamed to own 

The spot where he was born. 

They're on your prairies' waving plains, 

Quickening new towns to life. 
They meet the stormy waves of trade, 

As once the ocean's strife. 

Chicago owns their energy, 

'Francisco feels their thrift, 
While all New York and Boston, say, 

"Cape Cod men are the best." 

The soil our infant feet first trod, 

The hills round childhood's home, 
Still glow in pictures often scanned, 

Where'er those feet may roam. 

We leave to you your verdant fields, 

Your crops on hill and lea, 
Our home is still 'mid Cape Cod sands, 

Our farms — the broad blue sea. 

We lift the Pilgrim's war-cry still, 

"For freedom and for God," 
And wear as proudest title yet, 

"The sons of old Cape Cod." 

Hoping for "Old Home Week" a rousing success, and again expressing regret, for 
my own sake, that I cannot be with you, and with kindest regards to everybody, 

Believe me, faithfully yours, 

Elisha B. Worrell.. 




[53] 




ALONZO P. CROSBY 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

INTRODUCTION OF ALONZO P. CROSBY 

We occasionally meet a person who is not responsive to the sen- 
timent, " his is my own, my native land." Not so with a native 
Cape Codcler. We have a typical son of the Cape with us to-day 
who loves and holds sacred everything that pertains to the old home. 

He loves every old landmark, every old tree, even the old-time 
flowers are dear to him, his favorite being the "Buttercup 11 — and I 
take pleasure in introducing to you Mr. Alonzo P. Crosby, who 
will respond to the toast, "Sons of Cape Cod. 11 



THE SONS OF CAPE COD 

ALONZO P. CROSBY 

Mr. President and friends of Old Home Week: — 

It is a great pleasure for me to be with you on this occasion; 
there is no place I would rather be this day and hour than on this 
platform. 

Before me I see two assemblies, — one that I am now speaking 
to, and the other as represented by the photographs hanging on either 
side of the wall. I have enjoyed everything connected with Old 
Home Week, but one thing impressed me greatly, when I heard 
Masters Ralph and Victor Stevens singing the patriotic song, and 
waving the stars and stripes, for in the boys I saw the men who 
will soon take our places on the stage of action. The subject which 
has been given me to speak upon on this occasion is, "The Sons of 
Cape Cod," and the time allotted me to speak is live minutes. How 
to do justice to these sons in so short a time is one of the greatest 
contracts I have ever undertaken. I will divide it up in the following 
manner: First, Who are they? Second, Where are they? Third, 
What are they? And fourth, What have they done to merit our 
attention at this time? Who are they? In a sentence, they are the 
noble sons of nobler sires; and I use the word nobler advisedly and 
with intent; for the sons of the earlier generation had much to contend 
with, which we know little about; and while they accomplished much, 
had they lived in the twentieth century with our advantages, who 
can tell what they might have achieved? Where are they? I 
might rather say, Where are they not? They can be found in most 
every State in the Union. What are they? You will find them in 
most all vocations in life. Some have gone forth as ministers 
of the Gospel, and as our sons of the earlv days followed the sea, I 

[55] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

am quite sure that they carried some of the first missionaries to 
foreign shores. They are also doctors, lawyers, musicians, mer- 
chants, mechanics, and farmers; and they have always stood for 
law and order, and the best interest of our nation. They inherit 
the pioneer spirit, and this is one reason why we hear so much upon 
the subject of Expansion, they must have room. 

What have they done ? While I would give due credit to all the 
sons of Cape Cod, I cannot refrain at this time from speaking of some 
in particular. 

Come with me for a moment to the upper end of our beautiful 
village, and there I will show you a monument, and on it are the 
names of some of the best sons Cape Cod ever produced. I knew 
some of them well, and know something of their merit. We cannot 
call them back, but we would all say, in the language of the poet, 
"Though lost to sight, to memory dear." I am glad to see before 
me a small company of veterans; let us take off our hats as we meet 
them, and may their last days be days of happiness and peace. Just 
a word in closing. It is said that you can tell an English ship, no 
matter in what port you find her, by simply cutting one of her ropes, 
for through every rope there runs a crimson thread; so would I say 
of the sons of Cape Cod, I care not in what port you find him, through 
his veins you will find flows the crimson blood of Freedom. 




[56] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

THEN GATHER SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE OLD 

HOME STATE 

WRITTEN BY ONE OF THEM 



When hands meet and voices greet, 

As in the days of old; 
When hearts beat with memories sweet 

To happy stories told; 
Ah, then the ties of "Old Home" yet stronger seem to be, 

As gladly side by side we stand, 
Her sons and daughters we! 

Chorus 
Then gather, sons and daughters of the old home State; 
Again sing forth its praises, and its worthiness relate. 
No matter where we wander over land or over sea, 
Sweet mem'ries of the old home fore'er with us shall be! 
Then gather for the old home and all its worth relate, 
Yes, gather, sons and daughters of the old home State. 

Though glad days and sad days 

Have been the lot of all, 
Since home ways and home praise 

We left at duty's call, 
Yet 'mid the darkest shadows, or 'mid the scenes most bright, 

The thought that here again we'd stand 
Has thrill'd us with delight! 

Chorus 

Yes, hands meet and voices greet, 

The while we linger here, 
Though dear ones and near ones 

Are missing, year by year. 
Yes, bind the ties of Friendship securely, while we may, 

As gladly side by side we stand, 
For old home's sake to-day. 

Chorus 



"MY HOME" 



My early home! sweet cherished spot, 
The scenes of childhood's passing years; 
By me thou ne'er canst be forgot, 
While mem'ry's shrine in me uprears. 
Forget my home! where youth fled by 
On its too fleeting wing up borne? 
O ne'er till life hath fled mine eye, 
And I in death am left forlorn. 

What spot on earth to man so dear, 
Tho' he the wild world o'er shall roam ? 
What sphere so loved as that blest sphere 
Wherein is built his long-loved home? 
"There is no place like home," so dear, 
So cherished by the human breast; 
'Tis home where truest friends appear — 
'Tis home where life is far the best. 

[57] 




DR. EDWARD P. CROWELL 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

INTRODUCTION OF DR. EDWARD P. CROWELL 

The contiguity of Cape Cod to the Atlantic Ocean led our people 
naturally to a maritime life, and it developed a migratory spirit, 
so that our young men built new homes and settled away from here, 
especially with the passing away of the coasting industry. 

Manv of our young men have made such records that we have 
felt we had reason to crow well over their successes, and I have the 
pleasure of introducing to you Dr. E. P. Crowell, who w 11 respond to 
the toast, "The Old Home and the New. " 



THE OLD HOME AND THE NEW 

DR. EDWARD P. CROWELL 

Mr. Toastmaster, ladies and gentlemen: — 

On behalf of the boys and girls of Centerville returning to enjoy 
these festivities, I wish to tell you how pleased we all are at this 
cordial welcome to our old home. 

When we stepped off the train at West Barnstable, we did not take 
the two-horse conveyance marked Centerville, that runs to Osterville, 
but that other object, that antique, that vibrates through the 
village. 

We soon forgot the discomfort of the journey, were on our wax- 
by the old church where the rooster crows every time the clock strikes, 
and thence over the hilltop, where we obtained a line view of the 
broad marshes, the bay, and the lighthouse, guarding the entrance 
to Barnstable harbor. 

After winding through the woods we came out into the clearing 
and passed the old Crocker Hinckley residence', and down the hill 
toward the village. We heard the clink, clink, of Mr. Sears's anvil, 
passed the monument, so eloquently described by one of the speakers, 
by the Buttercup Cottage, where my predecessor and his brother appear 
as two sunflowers in the midst of that field of buttercups and daisies. 

As we passed down the clear old street, every twig and leaf that 
turned its silver lining to the west wind, and every window pane 
gave us welcome. 

But as we passed the school, the church, the library, and caught 
the first breath of the breeze from the harbor, we felt that we were 
really home again. 

You good people who live up street miss many of the events that 
occur on the beach and the river. 

[59] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

Why, one of your distinguished sons, assigned to the duty of 
taking a young lady across the river, became so enraptured with the 
sight of the stream that he walked down to the end of the pier, — 
Bertie's pier, — and exclaiming, "Dear old river, I love you yet," 
plunged head first into the water. 

Well, his good wife has had a larger part of his upper and nether 
garments on the clothes-line for the best part of a week. It is re- 
ported that she put him in bed. 

Chatting on the float of the "Bumps" River Yacht Club the other 
evening, it occurred to some of the members that the coming of your 
vice-president down to salt water should be celebrated in a befitting 
manner. How could he help coming down to salt water? Did not 
his father walk the quarter-deck of the " Mary E. Rankin"? After 
the members had assembled in the spacious parlors in executive 
session the secretary was authorized to cast one ballot as the unani- 
mous sentiment of the club, that Mr. Freeman Crosby be elected 
Commodore of the "Bumps" River Yacht Club. Hereafter you will 
please address him as Commodore Crosby. 

Sitting in the back pew yesterday morning cribbing from your 
pastor's excellent sermon points for my speech this afternoon, my 
work was suddenly interrupted. 

Professor Stevens, — Charlie Stevens, you all know him (we couldn't 
get along without him) — had just finished that charming rendering 
of that grand old hymn The Ninety and Nine, when two ladies 
seated in front of me held the following conversation: — 

"Who was that?" 

"Why, Professor Stevens, Charlie Stevens." 

"'Wasn't that beautiful?" 

"Lovely! Just lovely!" 

"Do you know him?" 

"Why, yes, I guess I do. He was one of my old beaux." 

" You don't say ! What a beautiful wig he wears ! " 

Fathers, mothers, grandfathers, and grandmothers present, do 
you imagine for a moment that your boys and girls ever forget their 
old home? Nonsense! They know where the path winds by the 
willows, where the door opens hard against the south wind, where 
the center table stands, and where grandma keeps her spectacles and 
doughnuts. 

They would give all they owned to have walked up that path 
last Saturday night, and just opened the door and sat down with 
you to a good square meal of baked beans and custard pie. 

[60] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

We shall carry into our new homes in New York, New Jersey, 
Minnesota, and the far West the same cordiality and friendship that 
we have enjoyed here, and no matter where we go, the boys and girls 
of Centerville will endeavor to honor Centerville as Centerville has 
honored them. 




[6 1 




AARON S. CROSBY 
Second Vice President 
Chairman Reception Committee 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

INTRODUCTION OF AARON S. CROSBY 

One day about fifty years ago one of our good Centerville mothers 
had for her guest one of those old-time ship captains for which the 
Cape was noted in the years gone by, and she had poor luck with 
her biscuits; in fact, they were a failure, but her guest was profuse 
in his praises of them. Some time after that he was again her guest, 
and this time her biscuits were all right and up to her standard, but 
not a word of praise did they receive from the captain. Finally she 
said to him, " Zenas, the last time you were here my biscuits were poor, 
and you praised them highly; but now they seem to be all right, and 
you don't say a word about them." "Well, Sarah," he replied, 
"these biscuits are all right and don't need any praise." It may 
strain your mental ingenuity a bit to apply this story at this time, 
but when Toastmaster Worrell turned over to me- the next toast, 
I thought to myself, what a barren subject, "Home Industries in 
Centerville." There is not a factory in the village. No hum of 
the loom or machinery from one end of the village to the other, but 
I thought that Air. Worrell showed his keen judgment in giving it 
to the person who is to respond to it, for if there is one man more 
than another who has an encyclopedic knowledge of everything 
pertaining to Centerville, it is he, and I take pleasure in introducing 
to you Mr. Aaron S. Crosby, Justice of the Peace, Notary Public, 
Fire Warden, Conveyancer, Auctioneer, Surveyor, Appraiser, Farmer, 
Legislator, and to combine them all in one, the Village Squire, who 
will respond to the toast, "Our Home Industries." 



OUR HOME INDUSTRIES 

AARON S. CROSBY 

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen and friends oj loved " Chequaquet ": 
Our worthy master of the colloquial art has alluded to me as 
village lawyer, legislator, and one that is acquainted with home 
industries. Either of these avocations I should esteem it an honor 
to attain to; for in the first position one has an opportunity of 
assisting friends and humanity when serious troubles seem to menace; 
in the second, if true to himself and country, better and fewer laws 
would grace the statute books of the Commonwealth, and a better 
government would be the rule and issue. 

The industries of Chequaquet from its earliest days to the close 
of the Civil War were unvaried. It was simply "Tilling of the Soil" 

[63] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

and "Toiling on the Sea," only varied by the shipbuilding for its own 
seamen. Then with the decline of its maritime interests came the cran- 
berry industry, and the influx from the cities, who find Centerville with 
its environments the ideal beautiful summer home. The sun to-day, 
seemingly rising from ocean's depths, and passing to the western 
decline, shines on Chequaquet the same as when the "red man" 
roamed through those then forest woodlands, the typical "Forest- 
by-the-Sea," and it seems to-day, Mr. President, both fitting and 
proper that we in thought and word should remember those who 
followed the "red man," and made it possible for Chequaquet to 
have a future. All honor, I say, to those " Delvers of the Soil, " those 
"Toilers of the Sea," who by their prudence, perseverance, economy, 
their industry and integrity, gave to Centerville so proud a name. 
By this union to-day around the hearth-stones, by the inspirations 
drawn from the recollections and reminiscences of the past, the 
associations of the present, and the hopes of the future, may we be 
inspired to purer and nobler deeds for humanity, which is the grand 
desideratum of life. 




[64] 




A MINNESOTA GROUP OF CENTERVILLE "BOYS' 
Herbert, William, and Alton Crosby 
Frank G. Handy — Everett Lewis 
(See biographical sketches on page 148) 




ALBERT N. LEWIS 
(See biographical sketch on page 148) 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

INTRODUCTION OF A. N. LEWIS 

We think of the East as the center of all things literary. We 
think of the West from the standpoint of growing wheat fields with 
whic'h to feed the world. One to feed the brain, the other the body. 

But there are poets on the great rolling prairies of Minnesota, — 
at least there is one, who had planted within him the seed of a 
literary nature, and it budded and blossomed after he settled near 
the laughing waters of Minnehaha, and I will now ask Miss Evelyn 
Crosby to read a poem written by our old friend Albert N. Lewis, 
which is in response to the toast, "Our Boys in the West." 



OUR BOYS IN THE WEST 

ALBERT N. LEWIS 



Hail to ye, sons of old Cape Cod! 
Back where your childhood's footsteps trod. 
The Sunset Land to the Sea-girt Shore 
Gives the hearty clasp of the days of yore. 

Our Fathers, born of the sturdy stock 
That blazed the trail from the Plymouth rock, 
Built their homes on the piny knolls, 
Or in shady dells which the oak enfolds; 
\\ herever a spring from the soil up- pressed, 
Or a rivulet ran to the river's breast; 
And wrought by hard, unremitting toil 
A living from the unwilling soil. 

But ever the call of the boundless sea 
Made sore appeal to their spirits free; 
Great in strength, but yet greater of soul, 
They replied to the mighty Ocean's roll, 
Seeking Dame Fortune's hidden store — 
From Georges Banks to the Bay Chaleur — 
From tossing bow and from seething lee 
Garnered the grist of the teeming sea. 

They sailed afar on the mighty main, 
To the sunny, vine-clad hills of Spain, 
To the land of the olive, fig, and lime; 
To the isles of the endless summer time. 
To the far-off East, whose spicy breath 
Lures to the jungles of subtle death. 
To the far, still North, where bergs are born, 
To the wild unrest of the southern Horn; 
And many the trophies their valor won — 
From the Arctic whale, to pearl of Ceylon — 
The delicate spoils of their ceaseless raid, 
They brought to the waiting wife or maid; 
And still you will find each house possessed 
Of treasure-trove from that world-wide quest. 

Later, they built, by the river's side, 
Their own fleet craft, — with a touch of pride; 
And as time rolled on the hamlets grew, 
And the scattered households nearer drew; 
And many a handsome fortune made 
In the palmy days of the coasting trade 
Was given to make our village play 
The part that its beauty does to-day. 

And we, their sons, are a restless lot, 
Of the same aspiring race begot; 
And starting forth on the same old quest, 
Have felt the beck of the mighty West, 
Where the virgin soil of an empire spread, 
August, 1904. 



And the rocks were gold where the rivers fed, 
Waiting the masterly brain and hand 
To toil, subdue, and enforce command. 

We have chased the Indians' winding trail 
With the level track of the iron rail. 
We have spanned with steel the river's banks, 
Climbed among clouds the mountain flanks, 
And piercing their heights with mighty bore 
We have reached the far Pacific shore. 
Have planted cities where the wild coyote 
Forbid with his harsh, discordant note; 

Carved to our use the forests of pine, 
Dug from the depths the spoil of the mine, 
Built us the marts of traffic and gain; 
Our countless herds roam over the plain; 
Where the green sea of the prairie rolled, 
The ripening grains are billows of gold. 
We feed the hungry furnace and mill, 
The harnessed rivers perform our will, 
Creating a commerce whose broad extent 
Covers the needs of a continent. 
For us the school, the church, and the press 
Have blossomed out in the wilderness. 
And after the lapse of many a year, 
One humble boast we bring to you here: 
We have done our part to help create 
Many a rich and powerful state. 

We have built us homes in that western land, 
Where our children came, and their lives are 

planned; 
Where we struggled and won, and found our place, 
In the world's old ceaseless striving race; 
In the pleasure and worth that truly survives 
The constant moil of our turbulent lives. 
And we may not turn back with purpose to stay — 
Too many that loved us have wandered away; 
But deep in our hearts is a memory fond 
Of "Chequaquet" and "Bumpus" and "Nine 

Mile Pond," 
And the white sail's gleam on the sapphire Sound, 
Where we raced and sailed to the fishing ground; 
Where the berries grew ripe, and the shore gave 

food, 
When our hearts were young, and the world was 

good . 
We come from the West to greet you once more, 
By the waving pines and the sandy shore, 
And we give you All hail! ye sons of Cape Cod, 
A clasp of the hand, and the blessing of God. 



[67] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

OUR ELDERLY PEOPLE 

Oliver Wendell Holmes once being asked his age, replied that he 
was eighty years young. 

We feel it is a special privilege and pleasure to have with us to-day 
a number of our friends who are from seventy to ninety years young. 

I find that the average age of the fourteen oldest persons in this 
village is eighty-four, they all being eighty or over. We also have 
fifteen between seventy and eighty, with average age of seventy- 
six. 

What a tribute to the climate and the restful environment of our 
village life! 

May their last days be their best days. 

Following is list of persons and their ages: — - 

Jane Richardson 91 Russell Marston 87 

Luther Phinney 87 Mrs. Ruth Crosby 85 

Mrs. Luther Phinney 83 Mrs. Mercy Lovell 84 

Simeon Childs 85 Mrs. Sarah Sturgis 84 

Mrs. Simeon Childs 84 Benj. F. Childs 80 

Dennis C. Sturgis 81 Mrs. Benj. F. Childs 74 

Mrs. Dennis C. Sturgis 80 Cyrus F. Crosby 81 

Rev. Elihu Loomis 81 Bethia C. Crowell 77 

F. W. Coleman 79 Juliet C. Lewis 77 

Mrs. F. W. Coleman 72 Geo. W. Hamblin 78 

Aug. F. Childs 75 E. W. Austin 75 

Mrs. Aug. F. Childs 78 Mrs. E. W. Austin 73 

Horace Jones 79 Mrs. Lydia Bourne 70 

Mrs. Horace Jones 76 Mr. Edwin Coombs 79 

Asa W. Stevens 71 

It was expected that our friend, Mr. Cyrus F. Crosby, would 
be with us to-day to respond to the toast of "The Old Guard," 
but sickness prevented, and we are deprived of his genial presence 
and his words of wisdom and good cheer. Though eighty years of 
age, his spirit has not lost the freshness of youth, and by nature he 
is adapted to all ages. 

We also anticipated the pleasure of having with us Mr. Russell 
Marston to represent our "Old Friends," but a business engagement 
prevented. 

As in going through a forest our eyes rest upon some grand old 
oak towering above its fellows we stop and think of the long years 
required to bring it to its present growth and of the stories it could 
tell of the life of the forest, so to-day we are glad to look into these 
kindly faces, serene and peaceful, yet not lacking the spirit of gentle 
mirth, whose hearts, like that of the oak, are true to the core, and who 
are still in sympathy with the younger life of our village as they retain 
a cordial interest in the spirit that is animating us in this celebration. 

[68] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

They too could tap the treasury storehouse of memory and tell us 
many an interesting story of our village life of the long ago. 

As we think of them we wonder where a spot could be found with 
such rich environment of Nature so conducive to the spirit of rest 
incident to old age, as this, — Cape Cod. The weary heart and 
tired body worn with the strenuous life of the mart here find their 
Mecca, where the strained nerve can unloose; sympathy found in 
the music of the soughing pine and the rippling waters of the lake, 
while the exhilaration of the ocean breeze joins with the tonic of the 
forest in satisfying their cravings for rest as they free themselves from 
the entanglements and overstrain of the office and workshop. 



CENTERVILLE OLD HOME WEEK ASSOCIATION 
CELEBRATION AT THE VILLAGE CHURCH 

Monday, August 22, 1904. 
Dear Mr. Crosby, — 

We beg you to accept of our sincere sympathy in your sickness, our heartv con- 
gratulations because of your improved condition, and our heart-wish that your old- 
time health may soon be fully restored to you. 

We miss your cordial handshake, your cheery smile, and regret we are denied the 
pleasure of hearing your voice in response to the toast, " The Old Guard. " 
May Centerville have you with her yet many years. 

Cordially yours, 
Centerville Old Home Week Association.. 
By John B. Cornish, President. 
Mrs. Wm. F. Hallett, Secretary. 
To Cyrus F. Crosby, Esq. 
Centerville, Mass. 




[69] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

INTRODUCTION OF REV. H. T. TOROSYAN 

The primal object of our forefathers in embarking from the 
old country where they enjoyed high social positions and the ease 
that comes from affluent circumstances, to build homes on the bleak 
shores of Plymouth and Cape Cod in dreary winter, was that they 
might enjoy the freedom of worshiping God according to the dic- 
tates of their own consciences. 

To this end they built the church, one of the very first being the 
Congregational Church at West Barnstable. 

I have the pleasure of introducing to you Rev. H. T. Torosyan, 
who will speak to the toast, "The Church." 



REMARKS 

REV. H. T. TOROSYAN 

Mr. Toastmaster, ladies and gentlemen: — 

This late hour, and this applause — This reminds me of a boy 
named Tommie, whose mother called out, "Tommie, Tommie, 
where are you, Tommie?" Tommie came around the barn and 
cried out, "Ma, do you want me, or are you simply hollering?" 

A minister was accosted by a countryman who had heard him 
called "doctor," and who supposed he was a physician. "Doctor, 
do you practice here or in the city?" asked the countryman. "I 
don't practice, I preach," was the clergyman's reply. 

We ministers, no doubt, enjoy preaching; but as to practicing — 
well, I don't know. However, this time I will practice what I preach. 
One of the first articles of my creed is that a man must not appro- 
priate to himself more time than is legitimately due. I feel that you 
have already heard me enough, if not more than enough, and that it is 
my bounden duty to give my time to the speakers that will follow me. 

Another item of my creed is that repetition is often unpleasant 
or unnecessary. Our honored speakers last night spoke most elo- 
quently upon the importance and the power of the church, etc. 
To add anything to what they have said will be, in my judgment, 
superfluous. 

Besides, we are all anxious to get back to the music; and I see that 
a "National Anthem" is to be rendered by that splendid Old Home 
Week Choir of ours. 

[7o] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 
OUR LAND, O LORD, WITH SONGS OF PRAISE 



Our land, O Lord! with songs of praise 

Shall in Thy strength rejoice, 

And blest with Thy salvation raise 

To heaven a cheerful voice, 

Thy sure defense through nations round 

Hath spread our country's name, 

And all her humbled efforts crowned 

With freedom and with fame. 

In deep distress a patriot band 

Implored Thy power to save; 

For liberty they prayed, 

Thy hand the timely blessing gave. 

On Thee, in want, in woe or pain, 

Our hearts alone rely. 

Our rights Thy mercy will maintain 

And all our wants supply. 

Thus, Lord, Thy wondrous pow'r declare, 

And still exalt Thy fame; 

While we glad songs of praise prepare 

For Thine almighty name. 



HOME 



The dearest spot on earth to me Taught my heart the way to prize 

Is Home, sweet Home! My Home, sweet Home! 

The fairy land I long to see I've learn' d to look with lover's eyes, 

Is Home, sweet Home! On Home, sweet Home! 

There, how charm'd the sense of hearing, There, where vows are duly pledged, 

There, where love is so endearing, There, where hearts are so united, 

All is not so cheering, All the world I've slighted, 

As Home, sweet Home! For Home, sweet Home! 

All the world is not so cheering, All the world besides I've slighted, 

As Home, sweet Home! For Home, sweet Home! 



TO THEE, O COUNTRY! 



To thee, O Country, great and free, 

With trusting hearts we cling; 
Our voices tuned by joyous love, 

Thy pow'r and praises sing; 
Upon thy mighty faithful heart, 
We lay our burden down; 
Thou art the only friend who feels their weight without a frown. 

For thee we daily work and strive, 

To thee we give our love; 
For thee with fervor deep we pray 

To Him who dwells above; 
O God, preserve our Fatherland, 
Let Peace its ruler be, 
And let her happy kingdom stretch from north to southmost sea. 



[71] 




DR. JOHN E. PRATT 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

INTRODUCTION OF DR. JOHN E. PRATT 

Blackstone, the great English jurist, and expounder of and 
commentator on common law, called the system of trial by jury 
"The Palladium of our liberties." 

When our sagacious forefathers established the common school 
system as one of the cornerstones of our Republic, they made that 
system one of the palladiums of our liberties. 

One of our former school-teachers, Dr. John E. Pratt, has sent 
a response to the toast, "The Public School," and in his absence it 
will be read by Master Gorham Crosby. 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 

DR. JOHN E. PRATT 

When public policies are formulated by a dictator, be he priest 
or statesman, ignorance in the masses may be winked at, illiteracy 
tolerated; but when, as in our Republic, every citizen "carries his 
sovereignty under his own hat," education is essential to the well- 
being of society and the permanence of popular government. 

So our fathers builded, if not "better than they knew," at least 
with an intelligent foresight, when they planted the church on every 
hilltop and the school in every valley. 

America's prestige is in no small degree due to the intelligent 
suffrage which is a natural sequence of the public school system, 
planted by the fathers, nourished through generation after generation, 
fortified against the encroachment of divisive forces and narrow and 
baneful policies, till it has become the hope of free government, the 
safeguard of liberty, and the stimulus to mental growth and civic 
responsibility. 

Anarchy, disintegrating and destructive, with a false note of free- 
dom, preying upon law and order, feeds in the pastures of ignorance 
and distress. No civic force is more potent as a counteracting agency 
than intelligent public opinion whose foundation is laid in the public 
schools. 

Freedom is a precious boon, not to be assumed lightly nor squan- 
dered in reckless abandon. 

The flag floats above the schoolhouse both as an inspiration to 
patriotism and as a symbol of the affinity of the school to free govern- 
ment, a union more intimate and more beneficent than that of Church 
and State. 

[73] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

The entrance into our life and our citizenship of the masses 
of the Old World, where liberty of action, freedom of thought, and the 
molding of public opinion, as we understand them, are unknown, 
threatens our social structure. The public school, in training the 
children who come and those who are born here of foreign parentage, 
is mighty in its influence to assimilate these discordant elements, 
so that there is more harmony in our social life and more concord 
of that broader thinking which makes for wise government. Every 
schoolboy is destined to become, not a serf nor a blind follower 
of arrogant leadership, but a constructive force in the fulfilment of 
the Republic's promise. 

No appropriation in our New England towns is voted less grudg- 
ingly or with a finer sense of public duty than that which is annually 
made for the schools. 

Then, while men come and go, let the public school go on forever, 
training our youth in the elements which go to the making of a great 
citizenship. To teach religion is barred, but patriotism, Americanism 
if you please, may find a place in the curriculum, so that the men and 
women the schools send out may help to shape public sentiment and 
demonstrate their fealty to our country by a reverence for her cherished 
institutions, devotion to her higher interest and the constant exercise 
of civic righteousness. 




[74] 




CAPT. OWEN CROSBY 
Chairman Hall Committee 




HERBERT N. HINCKLEY 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

INTRODUCTION OF HERBERT N. HINCKLEY 

A quaint old gentleman whom I once met was asked where he 
hailed from, and he replied, "Well, ah, well, Wayland is one of my 
native places." The gentleman who will next address you was born 
in Hyannis Port, lived when a boy here in Centerville with his father, 
and after that lived in different places, settling at last on Martha's 
Vineyard. I think it but fair that he class Centerville as one of his 
native places, and I take pleasure in introducing Mr. Herbert N. 
Hinckley of Centerville, Hyannis Port, Martha's Vineyard, and all 
alongshore, who will speak to the toast, "The Town Meeting," — 
another palladium of our liberties. 



THE TOWN MEETING 

HERBERT N. HINCKLEY 

Mr. Toastmaster and jellow-citizens of the Old Home: — 

In responding to the toast, The Town Meeting, or the New England 
Town Meeting as it is generally known, I am at a loss to know just 
how much or how little I ought to say, or perhaps how far into the 
subject I ought to go; for, as you know, government by town meeting 
is in principle the oldest form of government known in the world. 
The assemblies which in the Athenian market places condemned 
Socrates to death, or declared war against Syracuse, were quite like 
New England town meetings, except that they exercised greater 
powers because there was no state government above them. 

I will gladly, however, try to give you, in the five minutes allotted 
to me, a few thoughts which naturally come to one when he or she 
comes to realize the great benefit which the town meeting is to our 
system of government. 

In a New England town meeting the people directly govern 
themselves, the people tax themselves; the government is the people, 
or to speak with entire precision, it is composed of the male inhabit- 
ants twenty-one years of age and upwards. Once each year, usually 
in March, but sometimes as early as February or as late as April, 
a town meeting is held, at which all the grown men of the town are 
expected to be present and to vote, while any one may introduce 
motions or take part in the discussion. In early times there was a 
fine for non-attendance, but that is no longer the case; it is supposed 
that a due regard to his own interests will induce every man to 
come. 

[77] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

At the town meeting measures relating to the administration of 
town affairs are discussed and adopted or rejected. Appropriations 
are made for the public expenses of the town, or in other words, the 
amount of the town taxes for the year is determined, and town 
officers are elected for the year. Within its proper sphere, government 
by town meeting is the form of government most effectively under 
watch and control; everything is done in the full daylight of publicity, 
the specific objects for which public money is to be appropriated are 
discussed in the presence of everybody, and any one who disapproves 
of any of these objects or of the way in which it is proposed to obtain 
it, has an opportunity to declare his opinions. 

Under this form of government people are not so liable to be- 
wildering delusions as under other forms; the delusion that the 
town is a sort of mysterious power possessed of a fund of wealth, and 
able to do all manner of things for the benefit of the people, finds no 
place. Some such notion as this, more often implied than expressed, 
is very common, and it is inexpressibly dear to demagogues; it is the 
root from which springs a crop of humbug upon which political 
tricksters thrive as pigs fatten upon corn. In point of fact, no such 
town, armed with a magic fund of its own, has ever existed upon the 
earth; no town has ever yet used any money for public purposes, 
which it did not first take from its own people. 

In the town meeting we are perpetually reminded that the govern- 
ment is the people. Although we may think loosely about the govern- 
ment of our State or the still more remote government at Washington, 
we are kept pretty close to the facts where local affairs are concerned, 
and in this there is a political training of no small value. 

In the discussion which it provokes, in the necessity of facing 
argument with argument and of keeping one's temper under control, 
the town meeting is the best political training school in existence; 
its educational value is far higher than that of the newspaper, which, 
in spite of its many merits as a diffuser of information, is very apt 
to do its best to bemuddle plain facts. 

Many times in our town meetings great principles of government 
are discussed with a wealth of knowledge and stated with the skill 
of a master which have done much to cement the foundations of our 
system of government, so that when the time came, as it was bound to 
come, when strong men were needed to bind up the nation's wounds, 
the country towns poured out their wealth of men nurtured and 
trained in the life which tends to strengthen character, brain, and 
muscle. 

[78] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

The town meeting is also to a very limited extent a legislative 
body; it also makes sundry regulations for the management of its 
local affairs. 

In short, the New England town meeting is the most perfect 
exhibition of what the lamented Lincoln called government of the 
people, by the people, and for the people. 

The New England town meetings are the vital principle of govern- 
ment, said Jefferson, and have proved themselves the wisest invention 
ever devised by the wit of man for the perfect exercise of self-govern- 
ment, and for its preservation. Personal participation in town 
meeting is a power, the loss of which is unquestionably felt in the 
government of cities. Why is it that cities have to depend for their 
welfare and prosperity upon the recruits they get from the country 
towns? Why is it that when a measure which is fraught with evil 
comes before the legislature of our State, the good people of the 
cities rely upon the members from the country towns to stay its 
progress? Is not the answer to be found in the training they to a 
great extent received in the town meeting? 

I would weld together so tight that all the powers of earth could 
not rend asunder these three fundamental safe-guards of our liberties, 
The Home, as illustrated in the beautiful sermon we listened to 
yesterday morning, The Little Red Schoolhouse, because of 
that noble truth which I read upon the front of our schoolhouse, by 
education, liberty, and the Town Meeting, because it is the wisest 
invention ever devised by the wit of man for the perfect exercise of 
self-government and its preservation. 




[79] 




GEN. A. D. AYLING 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

INTRODUCTION OF GEN. A. D. AYLING 

We all remember that because of the initials to his name, — 
U. S. — that Senator Charles Sumner called General Grant, Uncon- 
ditional Surrender Grant. After the Civil War General Grant with 
his wife made a tour of Cape Cod, being met at the different railroad 
stations by our people, who gave them a royal welcome. At Wellrleet, 
while the train stopped, Dr. Thomas N. Stone, the poet, wit, and 
orator of the Cape in his day, called for three cheers for General 
Grant, which were given with a will; he then called for '"three cheers 
for Mrs. Grant, the only person to whom the General ever surren- 
dered." This so pleased both the General and Mrs. Grant that 
they were ever after admiring friends of the doctor. 

There was another military officer that toured Cape Cod about 
the same time, and finally camped here in Centerville and laid siege 
to our village. After skirmishing around for a while he forced his 
way through our lines, entered one of our homes, captured one of 
our daughters, and took her to another State. But as it often goes 
with the fortunes of war, she in turn captured him. In a word, the 
•captured captured the capturer, and she marched him back as her 
prisoner to her camp here in Centerville. I am officially informed 
that he is here now, and I take pleasure in introducing to you Gen. 
Augustus D. Ayling, who will respond to the toast, "Woman, Queen 
of the Home." 



WOMAN, QUEEN OF THE HOME 

GEN. A. D. AYLING 

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen: — 

In justice to myself I want to say I am not to blame for this 
infliction upon you. Responding to toasts is altogether out of my 
line and I consented to respond to this only in compliance with the 
urgent request of your Toastmaster; and when he informed me 
that all responses were to be limited to five minutes each, it seemed 
to me to be considerable of a proposition. The idea of doing justice 
to such a subject in five minutes! It could not be done in five hours, 
five days, or five weeks. Woman in the home or abroad is an inex- 
haustible theme. I wish that one with a better knowledge of the 
subject had been selected for this duty, for to me woman in all cir- 
cumstances and under all conditions is a sealed book, an unsolved 
problem, an unknown quantity. Why, I have been diligently 
studving woman for many Years and am still in the kindergarten. 

[81] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

I think one of the many interesting attributes or characteristics 
of woman is her unknowdbleness, if I may use the word; her frequent 
exhibitions of unexpected and unlooked-for phases of character, 
which no one dreamed she possessed. As Chimmie Fadden says, 
"You can never find out what a woman's going to do until it don't 
do you no good to know," and there is something in that. 

You remember Sir Walter Scott, in speaking of the sex, says, — 

" O, woman ! in our hours of ease, 
Uncertain, coy, and hard to please, 
And variable as the shade 
By the light quivering aspen made." 

Now, I don't think that is quite true, but I fully agree with the 
second part of the same quotation, 

"When pain and anguish wring the brow, 
A ministering angel thou! " 

Woman may possibly have some few trifling imperfections, but 
"if to her share some human errors fall," "with all her faults we 
love her still," and we cannot get along without her. 

Woman and home, — how naturally the one suggests the other. 
A home without woman, without her loving ministrations and without 
the charm her presence gives, is a desert place indeed, a mockery. 
Woman is inseparably connected with home, and she alone can make 
it all the word implies. 

I very much regret that I have no old home of my own to turn to 
with fond remembrance, my home having been broken up by death 
when I was young; but later in life it was my good fortune to become 
intimately acquainted with, and to be received into, a home, presided 
over by one of the sweetest characters, one of the saintliest women 
I have ever met, and I look back to that as an ideal old home where 
love abounded and where contention was unknown. She who made 
that home such a blessed spot to her husband and children has passed 
away, but her influence remains, and her memory and the memory 
of the home she made will ever be green in the hearts of those who 
knew and loved her best. 

Mr. President, in closing permit me to offer as a sentiment: 
Woman — "the last at the Cross and the first at the tomb." 

She rocks the cradle and guides the tottering steps of infancy and 
wipes away the tears of childhood. In manhood she is our loving 
companion, friend, and counselor, she soothes and comforts our 
declining years, and at the end may hers be the gentle, tender fingers 
that shall close our eyes in death. 

[82] 




EDWIN H. EVANS 
Chairman Fireworks Committee 




CAPT. JAMES D. KELLEY 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

INTRODUCTION OF CAPT. JAMES D. KELLEY 

Memory runs back forty-four years when, in common with many 
Cape boys, I sailed the briny deep. 

Among those who at one time were in the same vessel was one 
who for original wit and enjoyable companionship added much to 
the pleasure of the sailor's life. 

He is easily entitled to be known as the Mark Twain of Centerville, 
and I take pleasure in introducing to you my old shipmate and 
hardest competitor in many a hard-fought battle on the lyceum 
platform, Capt. James D. Kelley, who will respond to the toast, 
"The Cape Cod Sailor." 



THE CAPE COD SAILOR 

CAPTAIN JAMES D. KELLEY 

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen: — 

In giving you some of the characteristics of the Cape Cod Sailors, 
it will only be necessary for me to tell you about the sailors of 
Centerville, for reasons. 

Some years ago at a Sunday evening meeting, when the vestry 
was pretty well filled with sailors, the hat was passed around at the 
close of the service, and the minister was so w r ell pleased with the 
collection that he complimented the brethren on their liberality, 
whereupon one of the ladies took him to do for not mentioning the 
sisters of the church, telling him that the ladies had contributed as 
much as the men. "Why," said the parson, "I thought it was 
always understood that the brethren embraced the sisters." So it 
is with the Cape Cod sailors, what applies to the Centerville sailor 
fits equally well the rest, for their duties and their environment were 
much the same all along the Cape shore. Your historian has; told 
you that thirty vessels were built in this village; some thirty-four in 
all, I think, which made it an easy matter for the Centerville boys 
to take up a seafaring life, and they were not slow to avail themselves 
of the opportunity. Although the clipper ship was not ignored, the 
great majority of the home boys followed the coastwise trade. They 
generally began their career as cook. At the mature age of nine or 
ten years they took possession of the galley, and although their cooking 
was no doubt first-class, I often thought it well, when sitting down at the 
table, to remember the encouraging words of the Master to his disciples, 
"If thou eatest any deadly thing, it shall not harm thee." The 

[85] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

Cape Cod sailors were stevedores as well as seamen, for they often 
had to load and unload the vessels, as well as navigate them. In 
seamenship they were second to none in the world. As coast pilots 
they were experts. Indeed, it was necessary that they should be, 
for when not in port their vessels were nearly always in close proximity 
to reefs, shoals, and sand-bars, which made good seamenship and 
eternal vigilance the only surety of safety. Our Cape Cod sailors 
were great lovers of their homes, and that instinct made them good 
weather prophets, more particularly when entering the sound. 

From either end a cloud the size of a man's hand was sure to foretell 
a storm or general bad weather, making it necessary to run into the 
harbor and lay over night. 

In their business they were generally successful, whether in the 
coasting trade or fishing. They, like the whale that swallowed 
Jonah, and like certain milkmen, took in a great prophet out of the 
water. Our sailors usually brought their money home, and finan- 
cially this village was never in a more healthy condition than when 
our boys all followed the sea. As I remember them, the Cape Cod 
sailors were a very warm-hearted class of people, fond of children, 
extremely fond of little girls, and, Mr. Chairman, they liked the large 
ones just as well. Our sailor boys were always loyal to their flag; 
no traitor among them, you may be sure. In the tragedies of the 
deep Centerville has borne her part. It is in order, Mr. Chairman, 
that we lower the flag to half topmast just a moment in memory 
.of the twenty-five of our sailors who have been drowned at sea, nine 
of them masters of the vessels in which they sailed. I had intended, 
ladies and gentlemen, to tell you something of my own experience 
during the twenty-seven years that I followed the sea, but, owing to 
the lateness of the hour, and the long time you have sat here, I think 
you must sympathize with a little girl I once read about. She was 
in church, tired, no doubt, and longing to get out, when the minister, 
hating to give it up, but not knowing just how to continue, said, 
" O ! brethren, what more can I say unto you ? " This little five-year- 
old rose in her seat and piped out in a clear voice, "Please, sir, say 
Amen, and sit down." 




[86] 




MRS WILLIAM F. HALLETT 
Secretary and Treasurer 




EDWARD W. CH1LDS 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

INTRODUCTION OF EDWARD W. CHILDS 

Toastmaster Worrell reserved one of the best toasts for the 
last. When we consider the fact that the Spanish, the Russo- Japan 
wars, and in fact all wars in history pale into insignificance when 
compared to our Civil War for magnitude, and loss of life, we begin 
to realize what that war meant. 

Its devastating power reached every hamlet, and as I read those 
names in gold on yonder monument, I realize that our village contrib- 
uted its full share of life-blood for the perpetuity of the Union, the 
maintenance of one government of, by, and for the people, and the 
preservation of Old Glory, — the symbol of liberty. 

I now have the pleasure of introducing to you one of Centerville's 
best soldiers, — I wish I had the right to call him comrade — Edward 
W. Childs, who will respond to the toast, "The Cape Cod Soldier. " 



CAPE COD SOLDIERS 

EDWARD W. CHILDS 

Mr. Toastmaster, friends and neighbors: — 

I can assure you that I esteem it a great honor to be privileged 
to touch upon a subject which was of such vital importance, not 
only to the welfare of this village, but to our town, and our State, 
and our nation, as was the subject of Rebellion from '61 to '65, in 
which the boys of Centerville, your representatives, donned the Blue, 
and went to the front, that the Union might be preserved. They 
served in the different arms of the service as follows: — 

2 in the 14th Mass. Light Battery 

3 in the 35th Mass. Vol. Infantry 

4 in the 40th Mass. Vol. Infantry 

7 in the 45th Independent Cadet Mass. Vol. Infantry 

2 in the Navy, and 

1 in the 125th Pennsylvania Vol. Infantry, 
and of the last I will make special mention. He wasaway fromhis native 
village more than a year, previous to the Rebellion. He was not privi- 
leged, as most of the Massachusetts Volunteers were, to return home 
after being mustered into the U. S. service, and receive the last good-by 
from loving sisters, nor the fond embrace and God bless you from 
a devoted mother, but went directly to the front. That of itself was 
heroism. He gave his life for his country. I refer to Albro W. 
Phinnev. The Cape Cod Volunteer soldier was one who had always 

[89] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Ccnterville, Massachusetts] 

been subject to discipline. He was ever on the alert to receive the 
orders of his superior officers, and execute them with promptness. 
He performed his duty to the letter, from camp guard to picket, from 
picket to the skirmish line, and from skirmish line to scout — the 
most perilous position any man could take. He executed the orders 
from his superior officers with such promptness, that after the battles 
of Kingston, Whitehall, and Goldsboro, Major- General Foster, 
commanding the 18th Army Corps, made the following assertion: 
"Give me the 9th New Jersey, the 45th Mass., the 10th Conn., the 
3rd R. I. Battery, and the 3rd New York Cavalry, and I can sweep 
North Carolina." And later, Col. Charles R. Codman, one of the 
grandest colonels that ever left the Commonwealth, on taking 
leave of his regiment at Readville, Mass., after the expiration of 
their time of service, used words to this effect: "I am one who be- 
lieves that discipline can be had, among any class of men, but I am 
happy to say that you are men who have made discipline for your- 
selves." And later, at the celebration of the Battle of Kingston by 
the 45th Mass. Regiment at Young's Hotel, Boston, Col. Charles 
R. Codman, as toastmaster, in speaking of the merits of the different 
companies which formed the regiment, came to Company D, and 
said: "Company D, composed of men of Barnstable, the town of 
my adoption, last but not least. You can find men in that company 
who can fill any vocation in life, from a clerk in the counting room 
to master of a ship." You had nineteen in the service, and six of 
that number, nearly one third of the whole, gave their lives that the 
nation might live, and their names are inscribed on that granite 
shaft, one of the first erected in the Commonwealth, by the patriotic 
citizens of the town of Barnstable, for which our most esteemed 
friend, F. G. Kelley, Esq., was the prime mover. For what they 
did, and all they dared, remember them to-day, to the extent that 
the principles of our forefathers, exemplified by their valor, shall 
not be forgotten, but shall stand forth as a shining light of patriotism 
to all future generations. 




[90] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centeruille, Massachusetts] 
THE OLD OAKEN BUCKET 



How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood 

When fond recollection recalls them to view; 

The orchard, the meadow, the deep tangled wildwood, 

And ev'ry loved spot which my infancy knew. 

The wide spreading spring and the mill that stood nigh it, 

The bridge and the rock where the cataract fell, 

The cot of my father, the dairy house by it, 

And e'en the rude bucket that hung in the well. 

The old oaken bucket, the iron bound bucket, 

The moss covered bucket that hung in the well. 

The moss covered bucket I hail as a treasure, 
For often at noon when returned from the field, 
I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure, 
The purest and sweetest that nature can yield. 
How ardent I seized it, with hands that were glowing, 
And cjuick to the white-pebbled bottom it fell, 
Then soon with the emblem of truth overflowing, 
And dripping with coolness it rose from the well. 
The old oaken bucket, the iron bound bucket, 
The moss covered bucket, that hung in the well. 

How sweet from the green mossy rim to receive it, 
As poised on the curb it inclined to my lips 
Not a full flowing goblet could tempt me to leave it, 
Tho' filled with the nectar that Jupiter sips. 
And now far removed from the loved situation, 
The tear of regret will intrusively swell, 
As fancy reverts to my father's plantation, 
And sighs for the bucket that hung in the well. 
The old oaken bucket, the iron bound bucket, 
The moss covered bucket, that hung in the well. 



HOME, SWEET HOME 



'Mid pleasures and palaces, though we may roam, 

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home; 

A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there; 

Which, seek thro' the world, is ne'er met with elsewhere. 

Home, home, sweet, sweet home. 

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home. 

An exile from home, splendor dazzles in vain; 
Oh, give me my lowly thatched cottage again! 
The birds singing gaily, that came at my call; 
Oh! give me that peace of mind, dearer than all. 
Home, home, sweet, sweet home, 
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home. 



[91] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 



FOLLOWING ARE A FEW LETTERS WHICH WILL BE 
READ WITH INTEREST 



Letter to President John B. Cornish from Uberto C. Crosby. 

Manchester, June 23, 1904. 
My dear John: — 

I delayed writing you definitely in response to your invitation for Old Home Week 
in Centerville, because I very much want to accept. I would rather go to this Home 
Week than to a similar occasion in any other locality. All of my early recollections 
center about Centerville, and my oldest and dearest friends came from that locality. 
I share with you, as you know, a love and veneration for Cape Cod, its associations, 
and the dear friends who hail it as their birthplace. I just want to be in Centerville 
and with you on that occasion. If I could go, I would accept of your suggestion of 
taking some part in the exercises. Of course, I know I could not do very much or 
add to the beauty of the entertainment which will be provided, but the little that I 
could do would be most cheerfully and gladly given. 

Yours sincerely, 

U. C. Crosby. 



Letter to the Secretary, Mrs. Hallett, from Rev. I. P. Smith, an 
ex-pastor of our church. 

Salem Depot, N. H., Aug. 20, 1904. 
Mrs. Wm. F. Hallett: — 
Dear Madam: — 
Y r our invitation to myself and family to attend the "Old Home Week" celebration 
at Centerville was duly received, and I regret very much that we cannot be present. 
These home gatherings are highly interesting and profitable, and I have no doubt 
yours will be so. 

Our remembrance of Centerville is very vivid. Your beautiful village, the sea, 
the fresh healthful air, the members of the church, the people of the community, come 
up clearly before our minds, and it seems but yesterday that we were there. But as 
we reckon time, it is twenty-four years since we left your town, and many changes have 
taken place since those days. Many of your people, some of them at a very advanced 
age, have passed into the unseen land, and others have filled the vacant places; and 
soon it will be true of us all that " the places that now know us will know us no more 
forever." 

Mrs. Smith unites with me in kind regards to our friends in Centerville. 

Sincerely yours, 

I. P. Smith. 



[92] 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 



Letter to the Secretary from Rev. G. H. Morss, an ex-pastor of 
the Centerville Church. 

Uxcasville, Conn., August 16, 1904. 
Mrs. Wm. F. Hallett, Secretary Executive Committee, 

Old Home Week, Centerville. 
Dear Friend: — 

When your invitation came to me to be present at observance of Old Home Week 
at Centerville, I said at once, / must go to that, and I had proudly hoped I might be 
present and be permitted to see some of the grown-up children of my day who possibly 
would remember me. 

There passes in memory Deacon Crosby and Deacon Ansel Lewis, Capt. Lewis 
Crosby, Capt. Hillman Crosby, Capt. Case, Gorham Crosby, and James Crosby, and 
Ferdinand Kelley, Mr. Marston, and so many, many others, all of whom have passed 
to the region of the great beyond. But their children, some of them, still remain. 
How I would like to look upon their faces and enjoy with you all the festive gathering! 
But as this may not be, please give to all my hearty greeting. Peace be with you all. 

May God greatly bless your gathering to all who are present, and prepare us for 
the Home gathering in the Centervillage of His kingdom. 

Sincerely yours, 

G. H. Morss. 



Letter to Elisha B. Worrell from a former pastor of the 
Congregational Church, Rev. Wm. R. Jovslin. 

Berkley, Mass., Aug. IS, 1904. 
Elisha B. Worrell: — 
My dear Friend: — 
I am sorry to inform you that I shall not be able to carry out my plan with reference 
to visiting Centerville "Old Home Week." 

The home by the sea is very dear to me, as well as to my family. Many are the 
ties that bind me to it, and hallowed are the associations that cluster around it. 

I wish I could be with you, meet with my ministerial brethren, the people, and 
with every one — men, women, and children — enjoy the sports, the feasts, the 
socials, above all the services in the dear old house of worship where we were wont 
to praise Jehovah, the God of all the generations of men, fathers, children, and chil- 
dren's children. You will there have a good time in the Lord, who is above all changes 
the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. 

My daughter Lucy alone must represent the family. She will do it in the choir, 
as she joins with others in song and praise. 

Yours faithfully, 

Wm. R. Joyslin. 



[q: 



[Old Home Week Celebration, Centerville, Massachusetts] 

Following is an extract from letter written by Edwin C. Coombs 
of Natick. This letter was written to be read at the public 
exercises, but on account of extreme length of program was 
omitted. 

OLD HOME WEEK IN CENTERVILLE, AUGUST 19-22, 1904 

My dear Friends: — 

I cannot suppress the deep feeling of joy and satisfaction it gives me to be with 
you again in the dear old home of my nativity. Home! What a pathos of tender 
emotions is kindled in the heart of the home-coming pilgrim after years of absence, 
in the very thought of again treading the soil where his early childhood began, and 
of grasping the hands and looking into the eyes of loving friends, between whom and 
himself there has been a long lapse of time! 

Change has been busy with us all, meanwhile. New faces have come upon the 
scene; and many once familiar to us have vanished into the supreme silences. The 
few who have remained to greet us with welcome from heart and lip show marks of 
age — changed in all things save in unfaltering friendship — undying love! 

So I am once again in the dear old home! I am carried back in thought to the 
first eleven years of my boyhood, beginning here in Centerville almost seventy-nine 
years ago. It seems to me a dream — full of sunbursts and shadows. I am told 
my eyes first saw the light in a little red cottage known as the Andrew Gardner house 
in "Phinney's Lane." But the only home I knew, and to which my memory fondly 
clings, is the house on the rise of the hill over yonder, just across the way from the 
Charles B. Stevens place. Glad days were those — full of happy memories. 

Here and there in this assembly I see a few men and women who may be old enough 
to have begun life with me away back in the twenties of the century just gone out. 

What changes since 1836! Then there were not a hundred miles of railroad in 
all New England. It was in that year that my father moved to Iowa with our family. 
We took passage to New York by schooner "Norwich," whereof Capt. Alvin Crosby 
of this village, was master. There was no other way of getting to New York then. 
An odd-looking steamer took us from there — nine souls of us — to some point on the 
Jersey shore. There we disembarked, and were soon on board a train of cars — only 
two or three in the train — and moving through New Jersey at a speed considerably 
less than a bicycler can run to-day. The cars were fashioned after the pattern of the 
old-time stage-coach, and were mounted nearly a foot higher in air than cars are now 
Another change put us on board a steamer which took us to the river-front in Phila- 
delphia. From thence by railroad westwards we reached Johnstown, Pa., and this was 
as far west as any railroad had been built at that day. Here, by canal-boat drawn 
by horses, we made our way to Pittsburg. By steamboat thence down the Ohio 
River, and up the Mississippi, we were brought to St. Louis. 

One of the strong motives which induced my father to move West was that we 
might be kept together. I think I never knew a family to be more scattered! They 
and their descendants have branched off from Iowa into Massachusetts, Oregon, 
California, and across the Pacific into far-off Japan. 

I am now the only surviving member of our family — nearly all of whom died 

many years younger than I am now. 

Edwin C. Coombs. 

[94] 



HISTORICAL NOTES 

OF CENTERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS 

JULIA E. PHINNEY 



[The Historical Paper was read by request of the Historian by Mrs. John B. Cornish] 



J WISH to acknowledge my 
indebtedness to all who kindly 
rendered valuable information, es- 
pecially to Miss Laura M. Bearse, 
who has devoted many hours to 
procuring authentic records and 
photographs which add so much to 
the interest oj this little volume. 
Probably errors will be found among 
its many details. The indulgence 
oj all is asked, and it is hoped that 
none will criticize. J. E. P. 





JULIA E. PHINNEY 
Historian 





Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: — 

HE honor which has been conferred by invitation 
from your committee to prepare a paper touch- 
ing upon the historical events of this village, is 
one I deeply appreciate and thank you for, and 
though it has been in many respects a pleasant 
task, I regret that it was not given into abler hands. 
This beautiful August day finds us assembled 
to celebrate an occasion which we hope to make 
of more than ordinary interest. 

We are met to renew the associations of early 
years, to grasp the hand in friendly greeting, to try and trace, as we 
search each other's faces, for the lines that memory photographed 
in childhood, and to rekindle those feelings of sympathy which a 
gathering like this is so well fitted to cherish. 

There is something akin to feelings of inspiration when we look 
into the faces of these fathers, mothers, and children, yea, and chil- 
dren's children, which this Old Home Week has brought together; 
and, as we all tread again the village street and wave-washed shore, 
where for long years our ancestors lived, how the mind is over- 
whelmed with events that crowd upon it, and how eloquent and 
impressive the lessons that would come, could their silent graves 
but speak. 

I am disposed to question the propriety of calling the simple 
annals of this little village, which I have gathered in a fragmentary 
way, a history. 

To write a complete and authentic history would require long 
research, and possibly months and years of labor, as the writer 
would need to make a careful examination of as many papers and 
traditions as could be found, as well as the records of this and 
adjoining towns. 

[97] 



[Historical Notes oj Centerville, Massachusetts] 



If I can awaken, however, a general concern as to the importance 
of guarding and preserving all material of local history connected 
with this village or the inhabitants thereof, I shall feel repaid. Every 
valuable record, book, paper, or relic should be deposited in a place 
of safety. Such a wise foresight by the generations of the past 
would have enabled the writer to have collected much more of 
interest for her hearers to-day. 

The history of any large town or city connected with our be- 
loved State of Massachusetts is always replete with interest, but 
when especially connected with our native village, it awakens emo- 
tions that thrill the heart. 

Time has obliterated in many instances the old landmarks and 
traces of those very early days which have been eagerly sought and 
searched for, yet there are conclusive proofs still existing which tell 
of the toils, struggles, and sacrifices on land and sea of our venerable 
and honored sires, something of their sturdy characters, and what 
they accomplished. 

The foundation of Christianity, education, and patriotism which 
they aided in laying still exists, and has been handed down from 
sire to son, through the long line of generations that have followed, 
and while we mingle in these festivities to-day, we would lay the 
wreath of honor reverently on their graves, and strive to emulate 
all that was worthy in their characters. 

In S. L. Deyo's history of Barnstable County I find that the 
tract of land in and around Chequaquet was owned by John Yanno, 
son of Iyanough,and purchased of him in 1680 by Thomas Hinckley 
in behalf of the town. 

The genealogical sketches of the first settlers, from whom many 
of us are descended, would be of rare interest; but on account of 
the time and labor such an undertaking would involve, I must ask 
your forbearance and give you instead, a list of the families who 
were located in homes here one hundred years ago, viz. : — 



Dr. Josiah Sturtevant 
Mr. Edward Lewis 
Capt. Joseph Lewis 
Deacon Ephraim Lewis 
Mr. Freeman Kelley 
Mr. Lewis Crosby 
Mr. David Kelley 
Mr. Levi Kelley 
Mr. David Linnell 
Mr. James Bearse 
Mr. Job Childs 
Mr. James Crosby 
Mr. Eben Bassett 



Mr. Sylvanus Hinckley 
Mr. Levi Hinckley 
Mr. William Fuller 
Mr. Abner Linnell 
Mr. James Linnell 
Mr. John Sturgis 
Mr. Ebenezer Case 
Mr. Samuel Hathaway 
Mr. Benjamin Kelley 
Mr. Lot Case 
Mr. James Scudder 
Mr. Charles Phinney 
Mr. Simeon Coombs 



[98] 



[Historical Notes oj Centerville, Massachusetts] 

Mr. Isaac Bearse Mr. Clement Kelley 

Mr. Jehiel Parker Mr. Vincent Nickerson 

Mr. James Lewis Mr. Andrew Gardner 

Mr. Paul 1'hinxkv Mr. Moses Sturgis 

Mr. Solomon Phinnf.v Mr. Is a - — (Error) 

Mr. Robert Phinney Mrs. Mercy Cole 

Mr. William Phinney Miss Eunice Davis 

Mr. Thomas Linnell Miss Rebecca Bliss 

Mr. Albert Scudder Miss Desire Sturgis 

Mr. Ervin Kelley Mr. Oliver Follow 

As late as 1820 the village had a decidedly rural appearance. 
Where Alain St. is now was a narrow road which went through 
several enclosures. The limit of each resident's possessions was 
marked by gates and bars, of which there were thirteen, between 
what is now the post-office and the home of Capt. W. W. Hallett. 

This number was deeply impressed on the memory of a young 
lady who escorted a member of the ministerial profession to the end 
of the line of obstructions; he retaining his seat in the carriage per- 
mitted her to open the full number of gates and bars. At this time 
the only or usual method of crossing the river between Chequaquet 
and Oyster Island was over a foot-bridge of laid plank presumably 
at a point above where the present bridge crosses. Tradition tells 
of a certain young man who went from Chequaquet one Sunday 
evening to visit his sweetheart in Oyster Island. Upon his return 
he found, to his dismay, that the plank had been removed from the 
foot-bridge, which necessitated his walking home by way of the old 
road, by what was then Capt. James D. Scudder 's residence, and 
now the homestead of Horace Jones. 

Main St. was laid out about seventy-live years ago, and the 
first house erected on it was that of Arthur Bearse, very near the 
spot where Howard Marston's house now stands. The beautiful 
shade trees which add so much to the charm and attractiveness of the 
village were planted nearly fifty years ago by some of the good fathers. 

The oldest house now standing in the village is located in Phinney 's 
Lane. It was built early in the eighteenth century, and was later 
owned by "Uncle Gallison," who was a navigator. He sold the 
house to Benjamin Lewis, who later sold it to Henry R. Lewis, the 
present owner. 

That this village was once the home of a tribe of red men we 
are assured, as this part of the town was called Chequaquet, 
after the name of the tribe whose happy hunting-grounds we are 
now possessing. It continued to be known by said name until the 
Post-office was established in 1834, when by reason of its geograph- 
ical position it was called Centerville. 

[99] 




w Z 



[Historical Notes of Centerville, Massachusetts] 



The oldest resident of the village is Mrs. Jane Richardson, now 
in her ninety-second year. 

She was born in Centerville, and has always resided here, and 
I hope is able to be present to-day. She has given a few incidents 
connected with her early life which I record with pleasure, as the 
children of the early part of the nineteenth century are rapidly 

vanishing from our midst, and 
not many years more will pass 
before it will be impossible to 
gather facts from their lips. 

She relates that during the 
year 1813 a cotton laden vessel 
was driven into Iyanough by 
the English, who were in pur- 
suit, and that a call came to 
the men of Chequaquet to come 
and aid in its protection. Her 
father, William Phinney, was 
lieutenant of the company that 
responded. They made a 
breastwork of the bales of 
cotton, and all one night they 
and the enemy fired at each 
other. When the morning 
dawned they discovered the 
enemy making preparations to 
leave, and heard them exclaim 
as they sailed away, "They 
are hot-headed Yankees." 
She related the following in regard to the church in Phinney's 
Lane: The services were held there all day every fourth Sabbath. 
The pews were large and square, and the seats made to turn up when 
the people stood. When they sat again, the seats were turned down, 
accompanied with much noise. There was a sounding-board over 
the minister's head, probably to make more emphatic the earnest 
words of those devout and Christian men. 

It was customary to provide dinner for the minister, also a pipe 
and tobacco, with a little spirit to warm the inner man, as some of 
the winters were exceedingly cold and severe and there was no fire 
in the church. It was also noted that during the afternoon service 
the minister's sermon was apt to be more "spirited" even though 
it was long and sometimes reached the "seventeenthly. " 

[102] 




"AUNT JANE" RICHARDSON 
Born Jan. 17, 1813 



[Historical Notes of Centerville, Massachusetts] 

The elderly ladies carried a foot-stove to the church, and during 
the intermission at noon went into the neighbors' to have the coals 
rekindled for the afternoon service. Those coming from a distance 
generally rode horseback, — the man in saddle in front and the 
woman on a pillion behind. 

On the other three Sabbaths the preaching was at the church in 
Barnstable. Often the young people from this village would walk 
there, and the young ladies before entering the town would stop at 
the large rent-rock and change the shoes in which they walked for 
their best ones to wear in church. On their return home they again 
exchanged. That same rock can be seen to-day, and often when 
passing it have I tried to picture the merry maidens of those olden 
days. The men attended the services regularly, and always took 
their muskets with them. 

One Sabbath, during service, a man walked in and announced 
that the enemy was approaching. The men seized their muskets 
and rushed to the shore, prepared to sell their lives dearly if need be, 
but the enemy, seeing so many ready to act on the defensive, immedi- 
ately put up sail and moved away. Captain James Bearse, the father 
of the late Captains Andrus and Nelson Bearse, was captain of the 
company. It was also related that there was a man on shore with 
a yoke of oxen, who, from fear of being shot, drove them away so 
furiously that he nearly killed them. 

The wants of the residents in the early days were few, and nearly 
all the material used for clothing and household purposes was 
manufactured in their homes. 

A maiden lady named Desire Sturgis, but more familiarly and 
widely known as "Aunt Desire the Fortune Teller," lived alone 
and in humble circumstances, in Sturgis Neighborhood, located on 
the Hyannis road. Many of both sexes from various parts of the 
town wended their way hither to ascertain what the "noted oracle" 
could tell in regard to their future, they of course crossing her palm 
with silver. Especially was this true of the seafaring men who 
deeply relied on what she told them in regard to the success 
or failure of the anticipated voyage. 

It is related that being out of her favorite beverage one Saturdav, 
and knowing that it was a well-known bank director's custom to 
ride by on his way to the bank at a certain hour, she deliberately 
stood in the narrow and sandy road with her back toward him and 
arms outstretched, obliging him to halt. When he inquired as to 
her trouble, she told him she had lost her fourpence ha'penny that 

[103] 



[Historical Notes of Centerville, Massachusetts] 

she was going to give him to buy her tea. After waiting a reasonable 

time and the money not being found, he told her that if allowed to 

pass, he would bring the tea to her when he returned and she could 

pay him then. In due time the tea was delivered to her, but the 

fourpence ha'penny was never found. 

The oldest record or deed in my possession was given in the 

reign of Queen Anne, nearly two hundred years ago, by Jonathan 

Phinney, husbandman, to his brother John, yeoman, and relates 

to thirty-eight and one half shares of the fifty-fifth planting lot, in 

the last division of the late common land in Barnstable, the whole 

being derived from the heirs of the late Governor Hinckley. A 

description of the same reads as follows, viz. : - 

"The 55th Lott butts southerly against Dollar Davis' wood lott,and 
about ten rods further to the cartway, S. E. by E. from the trout-brook 
about ninetv rods to said way, to a stake No. 55. Then setts down by 
marked tree's on the west side of said way near N. N. E. to Tomson's way 
about 136 rods, then setts over on the south side of said Tomson's way 
by marked trees near W. N. W. to the head of said trout-brook to a tree, 
No. 55, and bounded westerly by said brook to the first mentioned range. 
The one half of the cedar-swamp before Dollar Davis' door is added and 
laid to this 55th Lott. Given in the twelfth year of Her Majesty's reign 
anno Dom. 1713." 

I also have deeds dated 1751, 1761, 1766, 1785, 1789, 1791, 1792, 
1799, each containing quaint information. There is a will dated 1 77 1, 
one item of which I have copied, as it shows how an old ancestor pro- 
vided for his wife, viz. : — 

"I give to my wife for her support and comfort and in lieu of her 
dower the use and improvement of one lower room in my dwelling house 
which she shall choose and a privilege in the kitchen and cellar, as she 
shall have occasion, and also the use and improvement of all my indoor 
movables, during the term of her natural life, and my will for her is, that 
my two sons shall equally between them, provide and find, at the door of 
my dwelling house, ready cut wood sufficient to keep one fire and provide 
and keep for the use of my said wife, one good cow and six good sheep, 
also a horse to ride to meeting, also provide and yield and pay to my 
said wife yearly, ten bushels of good indian corn, four bushels of rye, three 
bushels of wheat, one bushel of malt, one hundred and twenty weight of 
good pork, fifty weight of beef and forty weight of flax from the swingle, 
all to be kept, provided and yielded to my wife for her use yearly, and 
every year during her natural life." 

A few items copied from an old account book purchased in 171)1 
read as follows, viz. : — 

1791 — For making clorth sheoos for his garls 2s .2d . 

1793 — For Horse to go to town for doctor 2s . 

For Horse to go to Great Marshes ls.6d. 

1795 — For Pine post for Meeting House 10s. 

1796 — B. W. came to work at my house, per week 2s .8d . 

Making up one gown ls.8d. 

1797 — For Horse to meet the bride-groom at Mr. L.'s . . . . Is . 

1798 — For Pint of rum for the minister Is . 

[104] 



[Historical Notes oj Centerville, Massachusetts] 

The debit and credit accounts were entered in pounds, shillings, 
and pence, and often the debit was settled by exchanging for produce, 
labor on farm, weaving, etc. During 1798 were the following entries: 

"To boarding the ministers one Sabbath, viz.: — 

Rev. Samuel Parker, John Mellen, Mr. Simpkin. 

Rev. Timothy Willard, Oakes Shaw, Mr. Stillman. 

Rev. Fishel, Mr. Linkhorn, Timothy Alden, and Jotham Waterman." 

There were similar entries for Fast and Lecture days. I have 
read a description of Rev. Timothy Alden "as being a little man with 




THE FIRST CHURCH 

Built 17%. Phinney's Lane 

Loaned by Gustavus A. Hinckley, Barnstable 

antique wig, small clothes, and three cornered hat, very witty and 
wise. " It would be interesting to describe the others, but I have been 
unable to find any record. 

Every one of my hearers knows that the early settlers quitted their 
native land through "fidelity to their religious convictions, and that 
they willingly braved the struggles and hardships of pioneer life in 
the wilderness for the sake of Freedom to worship God. " 

The first meeting-house was erected in Phinney's Lane during the 
year 1796. 

The location was very near where Airs. Straley's summer-house 
now stands. Rev. John Mellen, a graduate of Harvard College in 
1770, officiated part of the time, he being the minister settled over the 
east parish in Barnstable. 

[105] 



[Historical Notes of Centerville, Massachusetts] 



Following is a list of the original purchasers of pews, the number 
of pews sold, and the price paid for each, sales amounting to $1298. 
It will be noticed that a large part of the purchasers were residents of 
the north side, and that the sales were all made during the year 1797. 
The list was arranged and kindly contributed byGustavus A.Hinckley, 
Barnstable. 



Pew No. 
Pew No. 



2 David Linnell 



Joseph Phinney 
Prince Lumbard 



Jan. 6, 1797 $ 97 .00 

Jan. 6, 1797 150.00 



f David Scudder, h 
Pew No. 3 | in common with 

[ James Marchant 

f James Marchant, 
Pew No. 3 \ J part, common with 



Pew No. 



[ David Scudder 

James Huckins, \ 
5 \ Levi Kelley, \ 

Seth Baker (Yarmo.), \ 



Jan. 10, 1797. , 



Jan. 13, 1797., 



68.50 



36.50 



f Benj. Gorham 
Pew No. 6 I Ebenr. Bacon 

[ Daniel Crocker 

Benj. Hadaway 

Lemuel Lumbert 
John Sturgis 

Lewis Gorham 
Saml. Huckins 
Edward Gorham 
Isaac Lothrop 
Ezekiel Crocker 
James Davis, Jr. 
Josiah Bacon 

Timothy Phinney, 'j 
Bangs Young, i 
John Thacher, = 

Job Childs 
Pew No. 18-j Joseph Cobb, Jr. 
Josiah Gorham* 

John Dexter, \ 
John Hinckley, Jr., ■ 
common &fc. with 
Josiah Gorham 
Joseph Cobb 

Elisha Blish 

f Jehial Parker 
Pew No. 23 •! Asenath Lewis 
[ Thankful Lewis 

Lemuel Carver 
Sarah Lumbard 



Pew No. S 
Pew No. 11 

Pew No. 12 
Pew No. 17 



Jan. 6, 1797 35.00 

Jan. 7, 1797 64.00 

Jan. 6, 1797 40.00 

Jan. 6, 1797 102.00 



Jan. 6, 1797. 



Oct. 17,1797.. 



96.00 



.-.x.oo 



Jan. 6, 1797 40.00 



Pew No. IS 



Pew No. 22 



Pew No. 2S 



Feb. 2, 1797 



29.00 



Jan. 6, 1797 139.00 

I Jan. 7, 1797 76.00 



Jan. 6, 1797.. 



50.00 



tj M on / J OB Childs 
Pew No. 30 < i „„ T ^..^ TT 
[ John Lovell 

* Cobb sold i to Jos. Davis Aug. 1 1, '98. 



Jan. 6, 1797 39.00 



Childs sold to John Dexter and John Hinckley. 

;io6] 



[Historical Notes oj Centerville, Massachusetts] 

*<* No - 32 { eS: Sk i } Jan - °' 1797 600 ° 

Pew No. 33 Solomon Lewis Jan. 7, 1797 6S.00 

f Joseph Chipman 
Daniel Parker, Jr. 
Seth Parker 
Isaiah Baker 
Joseph Howland 
Chipman Hinckley 



Pew No. 39 



Jan. G, 1797 50.00 



"During 1816, Ebenezer Coleman, James Hathaway, Solomon 
Phinney, Ebenezer Case, Levi Kelley, Benjamin Hathaway, Job Childs, 
Paul Phinney, James Crosby, Lewis Crosby and Eleazer Bearse, being 
dismissed from the East Parish and recommended to a council of ministers 
for organization as a distinct church, thev were so constituted Aug. 16th, 
1816." 

The church was then organized by Rev. Noble Everett and 
Rev. Jonathan Burr, and was called the South Congregational 
Church or Third Church of Barnstable. 

The society was formed the preceding February, under the 
name of the Matthewan Congregational and Calvinistic Society, and 
incorporated February, 1818, by an act of the Legislature, as the 
South Congregational Society of Barnstable. 

Rev. Josiah Sturtevant became the first pastor in January, 1819, 
with salary of $300 per year. He was also a physician. He passed 
away in 1824, and was buried in the old schoolhouse graveyard. 

During 1826 the meeting-house was taken down and removed 
to its present site, where it was remodeled and rebuilt. 

Rev. William Harlow was installed in 1827, as the successor of 
Rev. Dr. Sturtevant deceased. In 1831 Rev. Hazel Lucas from 
Carver, Mass., succeeded Rev. William Harlow, and remained three 
years. 

Mr. William Merchant was ordained in 1835 and remained four 
years. In 1840 Rev. Elisha Bacon succeeded to the charge and 
the church reorganized with new articles of faith and covenant. 
"During 1848 a warrant was posted on the church door, warning the 
proprietors of the church to meet at said house to act on several 
articles, the principal one being for the purpose of raising money 
to alter their meeting house so as to have a vestry, belfry and bell. " 
Rev. Elisha Bacon resigned April, 1857, after a successful pastorate 
of seventeen years, and died in 1863. 

The following is a list of the pastors since 1857 : — 

Rev. Chas. Gilpin Rev. G. H. Morss 

Rev. Edward Chamberlin Rev. Edmund Squire 

Rev. George Ford Rev. Newton I. Jones 

Rev. E. Burgess Rev. I. P. Smith 



10 



[Historical Notes of Centerville, Massachusetts] 

Rev. W. H. Bessom Rev. E. H. Harvey 

Rev. E. P. Stone Rev. Rufus Emerson 

Rev. Wm. Leonard Rev. George Pratt 

Rev. Wm. R. Joslyn Rev. B. H. Weston 

Rev. Wm. C. Detling Rev. H. T. Torosyan 

The church organized by the fathers in those olden days might 
have been of rude construction, but probably they worshiped more 
devoutly than many of us to-day in our beautiful temples. The 
church has continued to flourish, and quietly and steadily done its 
work. Different creeds have sprung from it, but all have cooperated 
in the broader faith of charity for all. 

"The Ladies' Benevolent Society of Centerville" was formed 
in 1848, " for the purpose of furnishing lamps and other articles that 
may be thought necessary for the new meeting-house, and for other 
purposes which the society may think proper or as it may have 
ability." 

The name was changed to Ladies' Sewing Circle in 1878. There 
is no record of the first officers, but good authority convinces the 
writer that Mrs. Ploomy Crosby was the first president, and con- 
tinued to hold the office for twenty years. Other presidents have been 
Mrs. Olive Davis, Mrs. Dorcas Lewis, Mrs. Eunice Hallett, Mrs. 
Olive Baker, Mrs. T. P. Smith, Mrs. Elizabeth Cornish, and Mrs. 
Margaret Handy. 

During the year 1859 a little band of eight ladies organized the 
Union Circle. They held their meetings in the old Liberty Hall, 
and before many months passed the membership increased to sixty- 
four. They organized a Sunday- school, and the Universalist minister 
at Hyannis, Rev. R. S. Pope, conducted services in the hall as often 
as possible. About the year 1884 the name was changed to Univer- 
salist Circle. On account of the many changes caused by death 
and removal to other places, ten years later they decided to disband. 

Having a cash balance of $200 on hand, it was voted to invest the 
same in Howard Hall. 

There were a few Methodists in the village who formed a Circle 
and diligently labored until they obtained sufficient money to pur- 
chase a Society Tent at the Yarmouth Camp Ground. Later this 
was sold, as many of the shareholders preferred to have cottages, 
two of which are still standing, one being owned by the youngest 
member of the first Circle. 

The society continued to flourish, and erected a little chapel which 
was dedicated in 1876. The preachers who have ministered to this 
society are as follows, viz., Rev. Geo. H. Butler, Rev. E. S. Fletcher, 

[108] 



[Historical Notes oj Centerville, Massachusetts] 

Rev. S. Hamilton Day, Rev. Geo. A. Grant, Rev. Winfield W. Hall, 
Rev. L. B. Codding, Rev. C. H. Dalrymple, Rev. Elmer F. Newall, 
Rev. Geo. Bernruter, Rev. Robt. S. Moore, Rev. J. F. Prior, Rev. 
R. C. Miller, Rev. J. S. Meracle, Rev. Sarah A. Dixon, Rev. O. A. 
Farley, and Rev. Geo. M. Fowler. A deed bearing date of 1845 
tells that the Parish House was sold, and contains the signatures of 
thirty-eight of the villagers, viz. : — 

Abigail Crosby Jehiel Crosby 

Ephraim Lewis Darius Crosby 

Simeon Lumbert Ansel Lewis 

Edward Lewis James Crosby 

James Lewis James Crosby, Jr. 

Joseph Lewis Josiah Scudder 

Samuel Crosby, Jr. Sarah F. Crosby 

Wilson Crosby Mary Lumbert 

S. A. Wiley Sophronia Scudder 

Alvin Crosby Lucy Wiley 

Josiah Scudder, Jr. Martha Crosby 

Gorham Crosby Eliza Crosby 

Mary Ann Crosby Mehitable Lewis 

Hannah Lewis Jonathan Kelley 

Mercy Lewis Sylvia Kelley 

Ploomy Crosby Caroline Crosby 

Louisa W. Crosby Relief Lewis 

Anna Lewis Eunice L. Crosby 
Temperance Crosby 



[Copy] 

Minutes of the Congregational Church in Centerville 

The Congregational Church in Centerville met in the vestry of their Meeting House, 
according to previous notice Wednesday, February 20th, 1850, to take into considera- 
tion the subject of American Slavery. 

1. The meeting was called to order by Rev. Elisha Bacon, moderator of the 
Church. Then voted that Edward Lewis, Jr., be Scribe of said meeting. Prayer \\ as 
then offered by the Moderator. 

2. The Church then proceeded to the business for which they were called to- 
gether, viz., Slavery. The subject was then discussed by Rev. Elisha Bacon, Brother 
W. Crosby and others, that the Church ought to take some action in reference to so 
great an evil existing in our land (that our Brethren in Sister Churches and the world 
may know) — we cannot fellowship as Christians those who voluntarily hold in bond- 
age their fellowmen. 

3. Voted to choose a committee of three to prepare resolutions and present 
them before the church, at an adjourned meeting. 

Ansel Lewis, Frederic W. Crosby, & Edw. Lewis, Jr., were chosen. 

4. Voted to adjourn this meeting to Tuesday, February 26th, half past six o'clock 
p.m. at this place. 

5. Met according to adjournment Feb. 26th. The meeting was called to order 
by the Moderator. Prayer was then offered by Brother Wilson Crosby. The meeting 
then listened to a report of the committee chosen to prepare resolutions and present 
them before this meeting. 

6. Voted that the report be accepted. 

[I0 9 ] 



[Historical Notes oj Centerville, Massachusetts] 

7. Voted to take up each article separately and after carefully considering 
them, they were adopted as a whole as containing the sentiment of the Church in refer- 
ence to Slavery. 

8. Voted that a committee of two be appointed to present these resolutions to 
every male member of the church not present. Rev. Elisha Bacon and Edward Lewis, 
Jr., were chosen. 

9. Voted that the preamble and resolutions be signed by the Moderator and Scribe 
then to be published in the county newspapers and in the Puritan Recorder and Con- 
gregationalist (Boston Papers). 

10. Voted that this meeting be dissolved. 

Signed Elisha Bacon, Moderator. 
Edward Lewis, Jr., Scribe. 
Centerville, February 2(lth, 1850. 



Preamble 



When a great social evil exists in the community, reducing the standard of morals 
and sullying the purity of the Christian character, we believe it the duty of the Church 
to be foremost in exhibiting the nature of the evil, in rebuking those whose action tends 
to the perpetuity of the wrong, and in ridding the community of its contaminating 
influence. In view of these convictions, the Congregational Church in Centerville 

Resolves — that Slavery is a great and unparalleled wrong; a deep injury to 
the victim; degrading in its effect upon the oppressor and the community in which 
it exists. That it is a direct violation of God's immutable Law, and in opposition to 
tin- Principles which Christ promulgated. That it surpasses in injustice and iniquity 
all other social evils. 

And the Church further 

Resolves — that the stigma which attaches to men who have committed lesser 
crimes should be cast with redoubled force upon those who are guilty of this embodi- 
ment of crime. That we do not fellowship as Christians, men, who in the light of 
reason which illumines the present age and in the more brilliant light of Revelation 
with which the earth is tilled, shall voluntarily hold in bondage the image of God, 
however degraded by ignorance and sin. That we are impelled by a sense of our 
obligation to God and our fellow men to exclude from the communion table and the 
pulpit till men who are thus criminally guilty. 

And we the subscribers, members of the Congregational Church in Centerville, 
do adopt the above Preamble and Resolutions: — 

f Wilson Crosby Ansel Lewis 

| Edward Lewis, Jr. James \. Lewis 

Samuel Crosby, Jr. Hilman Crosby 

| Frederic W. Crosby Lewis Crosby 

[Sighed] •! Joseph Lewis Jehiel Crosby 

James Lewis James Crosby 

| Jacob Lovell Gorham Crosby 

James Crosby, Jr. Ephraim Lewis 
[ John F. Cornish 



[ill] 




THE SURF 





URING the early part of the seventeenth century 
a herring ditch was dug in the vicinity of Sturgis 
Neighborhood, and tradition says the workmen 
used wooden shovels with iron rims. No further 
information could be obtained in regard to this 
event. 

Coming down the long lapse of years that 
have intervened, we find that about the year 
i860 another herring ditch was dug. Charles 
Bassett was contractor for the section between 
the two ponds, and Henry Lewis and Ezekiel Sturgis for the remain- 
ing section leading into the ocean. The expense for the same was 
$1000. 

While digging the foundation of a barn located on the hill, back 
of the estate of the late Capt. Alvin Crosby, skulls and various other 
things were found, which point to this spot as being an old Indian 
burying-ground. Just below this hill was a mill, which caused some 
one, supposed to be James D. Scudder, to write the following rhyme, 

viz. : — 

"Below the hill there was a mill. 
For want of water it stood still ; 
And when it turned, it made no noise, 
Because 'twas built by the Crosby boys." 

The old millstone is now in the possession of Howard Marston. 
Sylvanus Jaggar, who once occupied Philander Crosby's house, 
used the Crosby mill for boring the logs, from which he made pumps, 
also for sawing blocks for vessels. 

The first known mill for grinding grain and carding wool was 
built previous to 1770 by Eli Phinney, at the pond situated at the 
west end of the village, opposite the house of Horace Jones. A letter 
written by Mr. Phinney to his children, dated 1774, was during the 
year 1826 printed in the Barnstable Patriot. The letter expresses 

[113] 



[Historical Notes oj Centerville, Massachusetts] 

a fond regard for his children's spiritual welfare, with much good 
advice. He also wrote of the threatening aspect of the political 
affairs of the country, and ends the letter as follows: — 

"I have stood out for our just rights and privileges as a people, what 
I could in my small sphere and I still intend to do what I can in the cause 
of what I call liberty." 




"UNCLE BILLY" FULLER'S OLD MILL 

The first turning lathe was placed in a mill by William Fuller, 
better known as "Uncle Billy." He manufactured various kinds 
of wooden articles, such as butter and chopping bowls, salt work 
rollers, spoons and clothes-pins. Some of the latter are still in 
existence and treasured in the home of W. W. Hallett and others. 
The mill was located at the north of the late Capt. Toilston Fuller's 
house, near a pond or trout brook. Uncle Hilly was a unique charac- 
ter. Among other belongings was a valuable cow, for besides its 
natural usefulness, it was trained to do the service of a horse, deliver- 
ing the products of the mill to the buyer, and as business increased the 
cow was obliged to haul the merchandise from the mill to a brightly 
painted scow named "Noah's Ark 1 ' anchored in Bump's River. 



[Historical Notes oj Centerville, Massachusetts] 

Uncle Billy then would start on an extended journey, visiting the towns 
and villages along the Cape, assisted by his sons. 

An interesting story is told: "That when the village clock was 
first placed in the church-tower, Uncle Billy was on the way to the 
beach for a load of seaweed, arriving opposite the church just as 
the clock commenced to strike the hour of twelve. It was the first 
time his docile animal had heard such a sound, and becoming terror- 
stricken, she fell to the ground and remained in a paralyzed condition 
until after the last stroke had sounded, when she leaped to her feet 
and ran through the village at a rapid pace toward the shore. " Among 
other possessions Uncle Billy owned an old Bible, which was of 
interest to all who called at his home. When open it measured about 
three feet across, and was called the Columbia Family and Pulpit 
Bible, containing the sacred text of the Old and New Testaments, 
with illustrations of the notes and annotations selected from the 




HOME OF WILLIAM FULLER 
Who was widely known as "Uncle Billy 



writings of Scott, Boole-Henry, Brown, Clarke and Wesley. Pub- 
lished in Boston by Jos. Teal. Printed by J. H. A. Frost, 1822. 

About fifty years ago William Jones had a mill erected at the old 
mill stream and manufactured shoe awls. A few years later Oliver 
Jones built a grist-mill and bought machinery for a saw-mill, which 
same was in use until 1881. 

[115] 



[Historical Notes of Centerville, Massachusetts] 

The salt works were under the management of Capt. Edward 
Lewis, and were located where a cranberry bog now is, adjoining 
land of Mrs. Hannah Nickerson on South Main St. 

On account of the scarcity and high price of salt in the latter 
part of the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth centuries, 
the invention of salt works by a native of Dennis gave a business of 
much value and profit to this and other Cape towns for many years. 

There was also a Dutch grist-mill located on the land now owned 
by Charles E. Bearse at the head of Long Pond, owned by a Mr. 
Lumbert. 

One of the home industries was the art of flagging chair bottoms. 
The flags used were such as grow in our fresh meadows. They 
were cut in July and dried on the open ground in the daytime and 
gathered up at night, before the dew fell, then placed under cover, 
as no rain or dampness was allowed to touch them during the process 
of drying. The flags were of the cat-tail variety, but those having 
the cat-tail stalk were not used. When thoroughly dried, the leaves 
were separated and wet with hot water to make them tough. They 
were then laid together and made into a small rope by rolling with 
the hand. The chair was then seated by having the rope passed 
across, then over and under each side of the frame of the seat. 

" It is said by men still living that within the memories of their grand- 
fathers, the two points which guard the entrance to our harbor, the one 
called Dead Neck, the other Squaw's Island, were so near each other that 
men standing on each could talk together. The story is rather incredible, 
considering that no perceptible change has occurred within the last fifty 
years. Supposing, however, that the long, level shoal, extending from 
Squaw's Island to the Gannet Rocks on the one hand, and from Dead Neck 
to Colyer's Ledge on the other, was but a few feet more elevated two hun- 
dred years ago, than it is at the present time, the assertion would come 
within the limits of probability. If these far-stretching points were 
flat strips of land, their exposed situation would make them an easy prey to 
the rough south winds, and the cessation of changes in the existing points of 
land may be referable to their less exposure and to their height and con- 
sequent strength. The story is a tradition which may be true, and may 
be otherwise. 

"It is also said by the same authority, that the river, which skirts 
the southern border of our village, was much narrower many years ago, and 
its margin lined with gigantic cedars. The story is rendered plausible, 
by the fact, that large stumps are yet found between Clay Hill and Capt. 
Jos. Lewis' house, and by the actual existence of many cedar trees in 
certain localities along its banks." 

The above was copied from the writings of F. W. Crosby and 
written many years ago. 

Beginning about the year 1824, the building of sloops and vessels 
was quite extensively carried on, and continued until just previous 
to i860. The principal contractors were James Crosbv, Jonathan 

[116] 



[Historical Notes oj Centerville, Massachusetts] 



Kelley, and Samuel Crosby. Following is a list of the names of the 
vessels, and for whom built: — 



PLATONIC for 

EMPRESS " 

FRIEND OF PEACE " 

OCEAN " 

DIAMOND " 

SHARON " 

JULIETTE " 

LEONORA " 

EMPIRE " 

ELIZA B " 

SPY " 

ENERGY " 

PEARL " 

SAGINAW " 

VINTAGE " 

BANNER " 

STRANGER " 

ELIZA MATILDA " 

UTICA " 

PERU " 

NORWICH " 

PLANTER " 

TIGRESS " 

TIGER " 

VERMONT " 

MARCIA " 

VILLAGE GEM " 



NELSON HARVEY. . . 
HERBERT MANTON. 



Ephraim Lewis 
Andrus Bearse 
Joseph Lewis 
( I ' 11 known) 
Edward Lewis 
Herman Crosby 
Wilson Crosby 
Darius Crosby 
Jacob Lovell 
Alvin Crosby 
Prentiss Kelley 
Ansel Lewis 
Ephraim Lewis 
Owen Bearse 
Edward Lewis 
Nelson Bearse 
Joseph Crowell 
'Andrus Bearse 
Darius Crosby 
Enoch Lewis 
Alvin Crosby 
Edward Lewis 
Jacob Lovell 
Ephraim Lewis 
Darius Crosby 
Enoch Lewis 
{Syndicate and sold to 

John C. Case) 
Nelson Bearse 
Lewis Crosby 



The schooner "Nelson Harvey" was named for the twin son of 
Captain Bearse, then a sturdy lad about ten years old, and the 
figurehead of the vessel was carved by Joseph Robbins of Osterville. 

Other vessels sailed by Centerville captains are included in the 
following list, viz. : — 

Capt. 



VESTA 

ISLAND CITY 

NUCEUS 

TALENT 

BLOSSOM 

EMBLEM 

FASHION 

STRANGER... 

OLIVER 

FLEET WING. 

UTICA 

OUTVIE 

MARY 

SAGINAW 

TWO MARY'S. 

CLARION 

EARL 

ALBANY 

HAROLD 



[ir 



Asa Stevens 
Asa Stevens 
Augustine Stevens 
David Linnell 
Philander Crosby 
Nelson Kelley 
Nelson Kelley 
Nelson Bearse 
Valentine Kelley 
Arvin Kelley 
Andrus Bearse 
Russell Marston 
Lewis Crosby 
Hilman Crosby 
Austin Bearse 
Josiah Childs 
Toilston Fuller 
Wkndell Hinckley 
Joseph Lewis 



[Historical Notes oj Centerville, Massachusetts] 



JOHN C. CALHOUN Capt 

FLYING FISH 

DAVID COX 

ALFRED BARRETT 

LOUIS SPANIER 

IRA LAFFRENIER 

CYRUS CHAMBERLAIN ... 

CLARA BELL 

HIGHLANDER 

DANIEL WEBSTE R 

EVA 

CABOT 

B. L. SHERMAN 

EDITH 

ELIZA WILLIAMS 

VICTOR 

NYLE 

FRANCES 

ALIDA 

SUSAN 

SI \ BIRD 

ALEXANDER BLUE 

GEO. W. WHISTLER 

JONATHAN CONE 

JOSEPHINE G. COLLIER " 

EMILY BELLE 

EMMA BAC< >N 

ABBY BURSLEY 

W. R. NEWCOMB 

D. M. FRENCH 

S. M. TYLER 

MARY E. RANKIN 

MARCIA S. LEWIS 

LOUISA 

EDWIN A. STEVENS 

MONTANA & ALMAT1 \ 

ANNIE T. BAH EY 

LORING C. BALLARD . 
BELLE HALLIDAY.. . 

N. H. SKINNEP 

THOMAS H. LAWRENCE ... 
KATIE I. HOYT 



Philander ( VS1 
Simeon Jon] s 
John Coknish 
Zeno Kelley 
Enoch Lewis 
Frederick Coi em w 
Frederick Bearse 
Dennis Sturgis 
Washburn Hinckley 
Jacob Lewis 
Eli Phinney 
Ei i Phinney 
Eli Phinney 
Eli Phinney 
l»WII) II. Childs 
Jacob Lewis 
Henry S. Linnell 
Henry S. Linnell 
John- G. Lumbert 
Reuben Jones 
Reuben Jones 
Arthur S. Phinney 
Arthur S. Phinney 
( >wen Crosby 

KlLMAN ( ROSBY 

J wii s I). Kelley 
John C. ( Am 
David N. Kelley 
William Marton 
Augustine F. Childs 
Lewis Crosby 
Lewis Crosby 
Joseph E. Lewis 
George W. I Jam bun 
Georgi: W. Hamblin 
Prince Bearse 
Prince Bearse 
Prlnce Bearse 
Mazeppa Nickerson 

El VNDEB NlCKERSON 

Hiram R. Keller 
Horace M. Bearse 



FOREIGN PORTS 

{Name unknown) Capl 

JOHN RUTLEDGE 

ALEXIN A 

II NO 

GOLDEN AGE 

BETSENA 

ACORN 

ACORN 

TIMER 

I W1ES N. STONE 

PRIDE OE Till'. PORT 

LOTES AND WITCH 

STAGHOUND 

STAFFORDSHIRE 

KITTY TOM « 

i A ante unknown) " 

[119] 



John Gallison 
A 1 1 xander Kelley 
Ephraim Richardson 
Ephraim Richardson 
Ephraim Rtchardson 
Arthur S. Phinney 
Henry C. Coombs 
Wendell Lewis 
Ei.i Phinney 
Nelson B. Hallett 
John E. Baker 
Eitjah H. Lewis 
Josiah Richardson 
Josiah Richardson 
Josiah Richardson 
John Richardson 



[Historical Notes o] Centerville, Massachusetts] 

A sloop named "Clyde" was owned and run by Capt. Philander 
Crosby in 1835. It was used for trading at Nantucket and Edgartown r 
it being at that time the only method of transportation. Captain 
Crosby purchased goods of every description, and was a supply 
agent. 

Previous to the Civil War, thirty-two vessels were seen anchored 
in our harbor at one time, seventeen of which hailed from this village. 
Not one now sails from here. 

The shipping and coasting trade since that day has undergone 
many changes, and ships now are almost unknown; but the masters 
of this and the Cape towns generally have seldom had any superiors, 
and their great success in their chosen profession has made many of 
their names famous on both sides of the great ocean. 

A letter dated Norfolk, 1827, addressed to William Phinney, 
announces the death of his son Joseph, he having been knocked 
overboard by the helm during a rough gale. Everything possible 
was done by captain and crew to save the young man, and even the 
dog leaped into the water and swam around the vessel three times, 
but all their efforts were in vain. 

During a severe storm in 1843 tnc schooner "Montano" was 
lost, and among those who were never heard from, who hailed from 
this village, was Capt. James W. Crowell, Daniel Davis, and George 
W. Bearse. 

Twenty-three years later, in the spring of 1866, the sad intelligence 
swept through the village announcing that the schooner "Juliette," 
commanded by Capt. Joseph F. Crosby, had gone down with all on 
board. Those of the crew from this little village were Captain 
Crosby, Franklin Hinckley, James Worrell, and Isaiah Scudder. 

These are only a few among the many sad messages that have 
entered the homes of Centerville. 

How often, when seated by your cheery fireside with the storm 
king abroad, raging in awful fury, have you said or heard the ex- 
clamation, "Oh, what a hard night for the poor sailors!" 'Twas 
then the sweet, broad sympathy "which makes all hearts akin" 
became manifest, and your prayer would be whispered into God's 
great ear, for their safe return to home and loved ones. 

The boys in the early part of the century just closed began the 
struggle of life very early. Many at a tender age, nine to thirteen 
years old, shipped as cabin boy or cook on board of a ship or coasting 
vessel, encountering untold privations and hardships. They possessed, 
however, an unbending principle for which they were willing to hazard 

[120] 



[Historical Notes o) Centerville, Massachusetts] 

even life itself, and slowly they rose, step by step, until many attained 
the proud position of officer or commander. 

In passing along I must remember the village has had other sons 
and daughters, of whom she may well be proud. As far back as 
1776, and three times since, have the sons been chosen to represent 
the old town in the legislature, viz. : — 

Eli Phinney, 1776; Ansel Lewis, i860; Clark Lincoln, 1880-1881; 
Aaron S. Crosby, 1 899-1 900. 

Some have filled professional chairs with honor, while others have 
engaged in teaching, and still others in mercantile, mechanical, or 
agricultural pursuits, all of which have strongly tested the resources 
of their character. 

The following little story was sent me by Mrs. J. C. Lewis. I 
think you will enjoy it, and I will give it in her own words, entitled, 
"The Loss of the 'Olive.'" 

"Near the close of the last war with Great Britain, in 1814, occurred 
an event which caused more or less hardship, or at least inconvenience, 
to many families in Chequaquet. I think my grandfather, Lewis 
Crosby, was principal owner of the little craft, and she was named 
for his little daughter, then but three or four years of age. My 
husband's father, Joseph Lewis, commanded her on a trip to the 
westward, probably as far as the Connecticut River, where he ob- 
tained supplies for the villagers in general, and for himself and 
friends in particular. He had successfully run the blockade, for the 
British then were prowling around our coast, notably at Falmouth, 
where by firing into the town they had succeeded in frightening the 
inhabitants so that the women and children were placed in an im- 
provised blockhouse for safety. Captain Lewis arrived in the 
harbor then called 'Under the School Lot,' presumably near night, 
and probably on Sunday, as he did not arrange to land the supplies 
until the next day. That next day proved to be a fateful one for the 
little 'Olive.' Before she was boarded it was discovered that, 
impelled by the ice, she w r as slowly moving out to sea. 

"A party of men made an effort to reach her in a boat from the 
shore, but found the ice too much for them, and were obliged to return. 
My father, Wilson Crosby, then a lad of thirteen, probably of an 
adventurous disposition, went in the boat with the men who tried 
to rescue her. Strange to relate, no tidings of the 'Olive's' fate 
ever reached the village, though it was long before she was given up 
as lost. Some thought she had grounded somewhere and that her 
precious cargo could be recovered; others, that she might have gone 

[121] 



[Historical Notes 0} Centerville, Massachusetts] 

through the channel called Muskeget, between Nantucket and the 
Vineyard, and if so, the winds and waves would soon destroy her. 
My uncle, Alvin Crosby, told me, not long before his death, that he 
remembered seeing the 'Olive' in the distance as he came from 
school on that memorable day. This event used to be spoken of 
with other happenings as 'When the "Olive" went off in the ice." 
During 1856, while Messrs. Crosby and Lewis were interested 
in the fishing business, they bought and fitted out the schooner 
"Caroline" and employed a Mr. Eldridge to sail her to the Grand 
Banks to procure fish. After they were caught and salted they 




THE JAMES LEWIS HOMESTEAD 



were stored in kenches or bins until brought ashore, when they were 
washed and dried on flakes preparatory for shipping to market. 

About fifty years ago two hundred catboats were seen at one 
time trolling for bluelish on Vineyard Sound, more than fifteen 
hailing from this village. For several years it was a profitable 
business, the lucky fisherman often making Si 2 per day. Twenty- 
one years ago a fleet of seventy-one boats was seen at sunrise, fishing. 
Many since that time have been engaged in blue and other kinds of 
fishing, with varied degrees of success, and it is probably carried on 
by some to-day. 

An old, but true story is related of Capt. James Lewis, one of 
our former respected citizens, who, being on a fishing expedition 
near the south shore of Nantucket, lost his knife overboard. On 
returning to the same place or near it some time after, a fish was 
caught having a lank appearance generally, also a bloated spot. 

[122] 



[Historical Notes oj Centerville, Massachusetts] 

On dissecting the fish, you can imagine Captain Lewis' surprise, 
when he discovered the identical knife with rusty blade, but the 
initials J. L. distinctly seen scratched on the horny handle. 

The Centerville Wharf Co. was organized in 1852 with thirty- 
two stockholders. Ansel Lewis and Gorham Crosby were appointed 
a committee to attend to the building of the wharf. 

F. G. Kelley was appointed a committee of one to go to Nantucket 
and learn the views of the islanders in regard to running a steam- 
boat between the two places. 

At a meeting held in January, 1854, it was voted to rent the ship- 
yard on the company's premises for the building of vessels of a less 
burthen than 200 tons for $10 each vessel, including the use of the 
pump. 

January, 1855, voted, the rent should be for vessels of 100 tons 
or under, $25, between 100 and 150 tons, $35, and between 150 and 
200 tons, $40. 

James Cornish served as wharfinger for many years, and was 
succeeded by John F. Cornish, who served until the company's 
dissolution. Alvin Crosby was treasurer, succeeded by John F. 
Cornish. 

The tariff adopted in 1852 was as follows, viz.: Hogsheads, 
ioc each. Flour, 2c per bbl. Nails, ic a keg. Sugar, 6c per box. 
Coffee, 2c per bag. Cheese, ic per box. Apples, 2c per bbl. Dry 
Goods, 6c per large case. Coal, i2^c per ton. Posts and Rails, 
25c per hundred. Wood, 12JC per cord. Tea, ic per chest. Boats 
to lie at wharf, $2.00 per season. 

[COPY] 

"May 20/79. Sold at public auction the Centerville Wharf Co.'s 
building to Enoch Lewis for seventy three dollars. Sold all the land to 
Gorham Crosby for eight and one-half dollars." 

The wharf was finally destroyed by a heavy southeast storm 

and gale. 

A subject that will interest many is in regard to the first regular 
stage route, which was under the management of Dea. James Mar 
chant, who made three trips a week from 1836 to 1840. He was 
succeeded by Eli Hinckley about four years. Mr. Hinckley's son 
states that he remembers when a lad of seeing the mail put in a 
horse-box in a shed, over night, which in our day would be considered 
a primitive way of treating " Uncle SamVmail. Mr. Hinckley sold 
to Gorham Crosby, who continued the business for many years. 
During the first four years the trip to Sandwich was made every 

[123] 



[Historical Notes oj Centerville, Massachusetts] 

other day. After that the trips were made daily, the regular fare 
from this village to Sandwich being $1.50. When the trips were made 
on alternate days, Mr. Crosby would leave Centerville before four 
o'clock in the morning for Hyannis Port, to collect the mail from 
Daniel Bassett's post-office. Returning home, he would exchange 
for a fresh horse, preparatory for the long drive in a carryall to 
Sandwich, leaving here about five o'clock in the morning. The route 
embraced Centerville, Osterville, Marston's Mills, Cotuit, South 
Sandwich, and Sandwich. Passengers were gathered up at various 
points as the coach proceeded on its journey. 

As the traffic increased, it became necessary to put on a two-horse 
accommodation. About 1848 he entered into partnership with his 
brother-in-law, John F. Cornish. Mr. Crosby then began to drive 
direct from Hyannis to Sandwich over the old stage road via the long 
stretch of woods to West Barnstable, thence over Scorton Neck to 
East Sandwich, and then to Sandwich, while Captain Cornish 
drove via the old route. 

In a short time the large increase in passengers made a four-horse 
coach necessary. This increase was due to the arrival of the steam 
cars at Sandwich. When the daily trip became a necessity, Mr. 
Crosby employed his brother, Oliver Crosby, to drive one of the 
four-horse coaches from Hyannis to Sandwich, while he drove the 
other. Mr. Crosby would leave Hyannis at eleven o'clock Monday 
forenoon and arrive in Sandwich at two o'clock in the afternoon. 
Then his brother Oliver would, upon the arrival of the train, be ready 
to make the return trip. The fresh relay of horses made their daily 
trips possible. After his brother Oliver had driven for him two 
years, he sold out his share in the south side route to him, and con- 
tinued to maintain his old route from Hyannis. 

This change developed two separate routes, one conducted by 
Gorham Crosby and the other by John F. Cornish and Oliver Crosby. 

Just previous to the arrival of the steam cars to Hyannis, Captain 
Cornish sold his interest in the business to Moses F. Hallett. 

In the early forties, before the days of steam and electric roads, 
a person desiring to go to Boston from this village must leave here 
about five o'clock in the morning, arriving in Sandwich about eight, 
when breakfast could be obtained at Pope's Hotel, now known as 
the Central House. Thence the trip was made by relays in about 
fifteen hours, via Plymouth, where dinner was served, and stopping 
at the "halfway house" in Scituate for tea, and then on to 
Boston. 

[124] 



[Historical Notes oj Centerville, Massachusetts] 

During the early part of the nineteenth century Moses Sturgis 
was the proprietor of an inn located where Mr. Austin now lives on 
Pine St., but then known as Sturgis Neighborhood. It was at this 
hostelry that the stage stopped for a fresh relay of horses. 

The inn was destroyed by fire in 1835. When the steam cars 
first arrived at West Barnstable, about 1854, Washburn Bursley 
ran a stage in opposition to Messrs. Hallett and Crosby. After their 
four years' contract expired Mr. Bursley was awarded the contract 
and continued to receive the same up to the time of his death, in 1886, 
with one exception, when Samuel Nickerson was awarded the con- 
tract from 1877 to 1881. Daniel P. Bursley has continued the 
business up to the present time, with the exception of one contract 
awarded to Everett P. Childs in 1897. 

The system of common schools was established at an early period, 
but we have been unable to find the record that would now be so very 
interesting. It is known, however, that they did not have the ad- 
vantages that we enjoy to-day. The first schoolhouse was erected 
in Phinney's Lane, near the spot where Herbert Child's house now 
stands. John Richardson, a man of superior education for the time 
and highly esteemed by parents and friends, taught the children 
between 1798 and 1800. The three " R's" were the principal studies, 
the school hours being from nine o'clock a.m. to four o'clock p.m., with 
an intermission between twelve and one o'clock for luncheon. There 
was a large, open fireplace, which the boys kept supplied with fuel 
during the cold weather, by going to the woods near by and cutting 
an armful at a time when needed. 

Other old teachers were Mehitable Lewis, Asenath Scudder, Ben- 
jamin Lewis, Seth Parker, and Wendell Hamblin. 

Two other schoolhouses have been erected in this district, and 
have stood upon or very near the old site. 

Seventy-five years ago, or about 1830, there was a small school- 
house on the estate of Ephraim Lewis, containing one room and an 
entry. There was one aisle in the center, and one on each side, with 
long forms of plank which extended the width of the room, with a 
shelf underneath for books. When the classes recited, they were 
expected to stand with toes against a chalk line or crack in the floor. 
The children began to attend school at four years of age. Some ten 
or fifteen years later this schoolhouse was removed to the estate 
of Nelson Bearse and enlarged, being divided into two parts. The 
primary was called the small part, and the scholars graduated from 
there into the large part. The length of each term was three months 

[125] 



[Historical Notes oj Centerville, Massachusetts] 

in the summer and three in the winter, with an occasional few weeks 
of private school between. 

These old schoolhouses remained in use until 1879, when the 
present modern and commodious house was built to accommodate 
all the scholars in both districts. 




SCIi< X >I. II( H'SK 



In 1852 Rev. Elisha Bacon opened a private home school for boys. 
The pupils came from the towns on the Cape and as far north as 
Falmouth, he often having in his home twenty-five to teach and 
care for. As the school became popular, the pupils came from 
different parts of this and other States, and Air. Bacon was obliged 
to secure the use of Libert} - Hall for his schoolroom, and continued 

[I 20] 



[Historical Notes of Centerville, Massachusetts] 

to earn- on the work there for a number of years. He had for assist- 
ants his daughters, Misses Man- and Sarah Bacon, and Miss Clara 
P. Baker of Brewster, Mass. 

Following is a list of the teachers who have taught in the village, 
about twenty-five of whom were native born, and there are twelve 
others who have tauerhf or are now teaching elsewhere. 



John Richardson 
I'.miia I-'. Crosby 
Benjamin Lewis 
Mary A. ( 'rushy 
Si im Parker 
Clara P. Baker 
Abby Parker 



Ruth B. Nickerson 

I'd i i \ S. l.i i\ 1,1.1. 

As I X A 11 1 SCUDDER 

Caroline Howe 
Mehitable Lewis 
Eleanor Clark 
Cornelia Gage 



Jeremiah Kelley 
Juliet Crosby 
Josiah Richardson 
Elizabeth Stevens 
Wendell Hamblin 
Mary B. Bacon 
Mary Baxter 




THE BACON HOME SCHOOL 

Now Historian's Home 



Temperance Hinckley 
Sarah Alley 
Eunice Clark 
Aaron S. Cornish 
Eugene Tappan 
Alice Crosby 
Hammon Woodbury 
John E. Pratt 
Mary E. Bursley 
Carrie Phinney 
Samuel W. Hallett 
Emma Rogers 
Abby L. Hinckley 
Bertha Lo\ i i i 
Minnie E. Jenkins 

- Kelley 
William Cottle 
S. P. Higgins 



Sarah L. Bacon 
Madeline Galpin 
Ella Pulsifer 
Lucy Wiley 
Hannah Bates 
Isaac Hobbs 
Mary Hinckley 
Lydia Wood 
Louisa Stevens 
Sarah L. Gibbs 
Sylvia Stevens 
Hannah Heyward 
Sarah Jaggar 
Adki.ia Ciiii ds 
Charms X. Hinckley 

K.EYES DOANE 

Nancy A. Crosby 
Elisha Bacon 

[I2 7 ] 



Mary Stevens 
S. G. Usher 
Edward Ewer 
Nathan Hamblin 
Joseph Shaw 
Charles G. Pope 
Eunice Whelden 
Martha Whelden 
Lydia Hinckley 
Ploomy Bearse 

- Washburn 

- Edc.kri.y 
a. pulsifeb 
Nancy ('.. Crosby 
Mary E. Lewis 
Mary Burgess 
Mary J. Scttdder 
Clara Jones 



[Historical Notes of Ccnterville, Massachusetts] 



— Caldwell 
Albert R. Sweetser 
W. S. Bartlett 
Lizzie Lovell 
William Keyes 
Zemira Baker 
Ruth Jenkins 
Madella A. Buck 
Charles Hadley 
Charles Hayward 



Asa Bullard 
Theodore Bassett 
Orlando Tripp 
James Howland 

- Thayer 
Aaron Cornish 
Ivory Cornish 
Jennie T. Bowles 
Nellie Kelley 
Reuben Wright 



Lucy Griek 
Cornelia Lewis 
Emma Richardson 
Addie Hatch 
L. R. Morse 
Asa E. Lovell 

Cleaves 

Charlotte L. Crocker 
Annie Harwood 



The first mail was delivered in the village by Richard Phinney 
in saddle bags on horseback. The Centerville post-office was 
established March 4th, 1834, with Warren Marchant as postmaster. 

He was succeeded April 33rd, 1839, by Ferdinand G. Kelley, who 
retained the position until the 25th of June, 1891, covering the long 
period of fifty-two years and two months. Mr. Kelley's commission 
was signed by Amos Kendall, postmaster-general. Upon Mr. Kel- 
ley's resignation Alton A. Phinney, the present postmaster, received 
the appointment. The location of the post-office has never been 
changed since its establishment seventy years ago. 

About the year 1884 two mails a day were secured through the 
efforts of John B. Cornish, who was then in the government employ 
at the Custom House in Barnstable. 




[128] 







T is a pleasure now to lake note of the patriotic 
record of this village, which I think will rank with 
any of its size, and such record must ever remain 
a bright page in its history. 

Her sons were among those who were ready 
to maintain the cause of justice and freedom 
during the trying events of the Revolutionary 
days and those of 1812. The town record gives 
the names of Isaac Barce and Ebenezer Casse 
as privates in Capt. Ebenezer Baker's company 
in Colonel Freeman's regiment, who marched on a secret expedition 
to Tiverton, R. I., Oct. 4th, 1777, serving twenty-eight days. Others 
who served were Jesse Crosby, James Bearse, Thomas Lewis, 
Sylvanus Hinckley, Joseph Phinney, and Lemuel Bearse. 

The names of those who were actively engaged in the War of 181 2 
are as follows, viz. : Thomas Isham, William Phinney, Jacob Childs, 
David Childs, Bartlett Hilliard, David Kelley, Andrew Gardner, and 
James D. Scudder. Harvey Hallett went as substitute for Ephraim 
Lewis. 

After the War of 181 2 two military companies were formed in 
the town of Barnstable with training grounds located in Chequaquet. 
< )ne was located in a large open field, opposite the church in Phinney's 
Lane. Near by was a tavern kept by Solomon Phinney. After the 
training it was customary for the men to file in there and get a little of 
the "Oh, be joyful! "to strengthen and aid them on their journey home. 
A second ground was on land now owned by Aaron S. Crosby, 
located opposite A. A. Phinney's house, while a third was on a plot 
of land on the east side of the estate of Horace Jones. Capt. Micajah 
Handy of Cotuit and Lieut. Charles Phinney of Chequaquet were in 
charge of one company, while Capt. Janus Bearse and Lieut. William 
Phinney of this village had charge of the other. 

[129] 



[Historical Notes oj Centerville, Massachusetts] 

One of the swords then used is now possessed by William F. 
Hallett, grandson of Charles Phinney, and a drum and fife are in 
the possession of Chester Bearse, grandson of James Bearse. This 
drum, from the most reliable information obtained, is about one 
hundred years old, and was owned and used by Capt. James Bearse 
in the militia of that period. The drum was next in the possession of 
Nelson Bearse, son of Captain James, and by him loaned to F. G. 
Kelley about 1850. Not having been used for many years it was 
sadly in need of repairs and was renovated by Mr. Kelley, and from 
him it passed to Chester Bearse. 

May the good "Old Drum" relic of the long ago continue to be 
held sacred and tenderly treasured and cared for. 

A printed notice issued by the Massachusetts militia to William 
Phinney, Jr., reads as follows, viz.: — 

You being duly enrolled as a soldier in the company of which Loring 
Crocker, Jr., is commanding officer are herein ordered to appear at the 
usual place of parade of said company in front of Mr. Hersey's meeting 
house, on Monday the tenth day of October at just two o'clock in the 
afternoon, armed and equipped as the law directs, for military duty and 
there wait for further orders. 



Dated, Barnstable. 
The 19th day of September, 1831. 



By order of said 

Commanding Officer 
Signed. Oliver Ford, Jr. 



Previous to the Civil War the social life in the village during the 
winter months, when captains and sailors were having a leisure time, 
was an element that brought pleasure into happy homes. Many 
will remember how the busy mother made her preparations, and 
recall — when the important day for entertainment arrived — how 
the parlor was opened and warmed, the best gown donned, the table 
spread with snowy linen and tea-set from the china closet, and when 
the "good things" from cellar and pantry were heaped thereon and 
all gathered to partake, how fun, jokes, and merry laughter re- 
sounded through the rooms. 

Then there were the evenings spent at the reading circle, singing, 
writing, and dancing schools, old and young taking an active part, 
especially the latter, when the}' were taught "to put the right foot out 
and left foot in," etc. 

The important services rendered and extent of sacrifices borne 
by the citizens of this village in common with so many, during the 
dark days of the Rebellion, will never cease to be remembered. 

t'3o] 



[Historical Notes of Centerville, Massachusetts] 

The names following are those of the nineteen who volunteered: — 

Clarence Bassett, Co. D, 4.5th Rcgt Killed at Kingston 

CHARLES E. BEARSE, Co. D, l.'.lh Regt Returned home 

George H. Bearse, Co. D, 45th Rcgt Died Newbern, N. C. 

Nathan H. Bearse, Co. 1), 45th Rcgt Returned home 

( >SBORN BEARSE, in the Navy Returned home 

Frederick Bearse, in the Navy Returned home 

Edward W. Childs, Co. D, 45th Regt Returned home 

Frederick W. Childs, Co. D, 45th Regt Returned home 

|<ni F. Childs, 14th Light Battery Died in hospital, City Point, Virginia 

Reuben F. Childs, Co. E, 40th Rcgt Returned 

RUDOLPHUS E. Childs, Co. E, 10th Regt Returned 

SIMEON C Childs, Co. I), 45th Rcgt Returned 

Simeon C Childs, Jr., 14th Right Battery .... Died in hospital, Beverly, N. J. 

Andrew B. Gardner, Co. C, 35th Rcgt Returned 

lh\i'\ LYON, Co. E, 10th Regt Returned 

Edwin F. Paine, Co. E, 40th Rcgt Returned 

John Q. A. Richardson, Co. E, 40th Rcgt Returned 

Nathan Winslow, Co. II, 35th Regt Died in hospital, Philadelphia, Pa. 

AlbroW. Phinney, Co. I), 125th Regt., Penn, Vols. Pied in hospital, Harper's Ferry,Va. 




MONUMENT SQUARE 

Arch — Flagstaff — Soldiers' Monument, erected 1866 



The Soldier's Aid Society was organized in [86i with Mrs. F. 
G. Kelley as president. 

Such valuable services as were rendered by the wives, mothers, 
sisters, and friends, pre] taring lint, bandages, and every comfort 
permitted for the sick and wounded, can never be measured or 
esteemed too highly. Their hearts beat and faces glowed with pa- 
triotism as they faithfully labored without money or price, and every 
box or barrel forwarded to the brave boys was permeated with their 
earnest prayers and loving thoughts. 

The Soldiers' Monument, located in Monument Square, was 
dedicated July 4th, 1866. This was the first monument erected in 

[131] 



[Historical Notes of Centerville, Massachusetts] 

Massachusetts, to commemorate the soldiers of the Civil War, and 
is the only one in Barnstable County. 

Theodore Parkman Post No. 204, G. A. R., was organized in 
Centerville, Oct. 15th, 1890, with twenty-one charter members. 
William C. Gifford, commander. The membership rapidly increased 
to thirty-seven members. 

Commanders up to present date have been as follows, viz.: 
William C. Gifford, E. F. Steere, Edward W. Childs, and Thomas 
H. Soule, Jr. The meetings of the Post are held regularly at their 
headquarters in Howard Hall, on the first and third Saturday evening 
of each month. The Woman's Relief Corps No. 147, auxiliary to 
Post No. 204, was instituted in 1891, and in 1893 presented the Post 
with the beautiful silk flag and Bible which they now possess. 

Theodore Parkman Corps No. 147, Centerville, was instituted 
Jan. 5th, 1892, and disbanded in 1897. The Centerville auxiliary 
to the Massachusetts Aid Association during the Spanish War was 
organized on Monday evening, July 27th, 1898, with Aaron S. Crosby, 
president, and Mrs. William F. Hallett, secretary and treasurer, and 
seventy-eight members. Sewing meetings were held in Russell 
Marston's Hall, and the sum of $100 was raised and sent to the 
Massachusetts headquarters in Boston. 




CKAXHKRRY HOG 



132 





T is now more than fifty years since cranberry 
cultivation was first discovered by a native of the 
Cape. Through this discovery a new industry 
was introduced and the inhabitants have been 
quick to respond. Old cedar swamps, meadows, 
and every available spot lias been utilized, and the 
cultivation of the berry has been brought to such 
high standard that its fame and quality are 
world renowned. 

The cranberry in its natural state grew wild 
on the beach, and in the harvest season the neighborhood people 
gathered there for the picking. The principal owner about 1850 
was John Scudder. The berries were picked and placed in bags 
belonging to the pickers, and at four o'clock every afternoon picking 
was ended for the day and all assembled around Mr. Scudder for 
the "measuring up." Each picker received one fourth the number 
of quarts he or she had picked. A few years later the sum of 50 
cents was paid for each bushel picked. 

Among the first to cultivate the cranberry in Centerville were 
Dea. Samuel Crosby and Andrus Bearse. Other citizens became 
interested later, and among the prominent present owners of bogs 
are, Augustine F. Childs, Aaron S. Crosby, and Prince Fuller. 
Several are interested in what is called the Neck and the Run. 

In 1872, a Camp-meeting Association and Settlement having 
been formed near Centerville on the east side of the river, it was 
deemed advisable to aid the people who wished to attend the meetings, 
by providing a crossing at the farm of Prentiss Kelley. A long boat, 
square at both ends with pulleys on the side, run by a rope between 
stakes on the two shores, was fitted with seats and served as a ferry. 
Captain Kelley managed the boat, the fare being two cents each 
way. 

[133] 



[Historical Notes of Centerville, Massachusetts] 

The people in Craigville called it the "Pull Over." It was 
well patronized for a time, especially by the young people, who 
considered it great sport to take a ride in the "Pull Over." It was 
discontinued after a few years. 

Sometime in the early part of 1846, Sylvanus Jaggar, a man of 
liberal ideas, thought it no harm to express them to his brethren and 
sisters in the church, but being duly called to account for the same, 
he immediately consulted with other men in the village, as to the 
advisability of building a hall, where every man should have the 
privilege of giving expression to his thoughts upon any subject. 




THE OLD LIBERTY HALL 



After due deliberation, a committee consisting of Sylvanus Jaggar, 
Andrus Bearse, Nelson Bearse, and Ferdinand G. Kelley were 
appointed to purchase a site, and in June of the said year the hall 
was completed and named Liberty Hall. Being considered too 
small during 1876 for the many purposes the villagers required, 
it was sold to Aaron S. Crosby and removed to his estate, where it 
now stands. 

At a memorable session of the Lyceum during 1876, when the old 
Liberty Hall could not contain the people, they adjourned to the 
church vestry, filling it to overflowing. It was then suggested that 

[i34] 1 



[Historical Notes oj Centerville, Massachusetts] 



steps be taken towards building a new hall, the result being, that 

during the year 1877 the present substantial and convenient edifice 

was erected and named Howard Hall. 

At the first annual meeting the following officers were elected, 

viz. : — 

Ferdinand G. Kelley, Chairman 

John B. Cornish, Secretary and Treasurer 

Russell Marston 

Ferdinand G. Kelley > Executive Committee 

Owen Crosby 

Gorham Crosby 

F. G. Kelley 

Russell Marston 

Henry A. Bearse 

Owen Crosby 



Building Committee 



A successful fair was held August 15th and 16th, 1883, and the very 
gratifying sum of $700 was the net result. 

Three thousand copies of a little sheet called the Centerville 
Fair Chronicle were circulated, giving the number of inhabitants 
in the village as 402. Males, 176; females, 226; the number of 
houses 112, with 115 families. Also 2 churches, 2 schoolhouses, 
1 hall, 9 stores and shops, 2 hotels, 1 post-office, 1 wheelwright, 
1 blacksmith, and 1 water grist-mill. 

The names of the families were divided as follows, viz.: — 

Hallett 3 

Jones 5 

Jaggar 1 

Kelley 9 

Lewis 8 

Lincoln 

Lumbert 

Lyons 

Morton 

Nye 

Phinney 

Robbins 

Scudder 

Sears 

Waterman 

A meeting was called in March, 1869, to frame a constitution, 
the object being a Public Library. It was organized by Eugene 
Tappan and started in Moses F. Hallett's store, remaining there 
until 1877, when it was removed to the store of Nelson Phinney. 
During 1878 it was again moved, and located in the anteroom of 
Howard Hall. 

A small building was erected in 1881, and for about sixteen 
years was the permanent home for the Library. Becoming inadequate 

[135] 



Adams 


1 







Bassett 


. 1 


Baker 





Backus 


1 


Bearse 


12 


Broad 


. 1 


Crocker 

Crawford 

Marston 


1 

1 

1 

1 


Nickkrson 2 


Perry 


•> 


Sabens 


1 


Warrall 

Childs 


1 
(3 





3 


Crosby 


11 


Clark 


1 


Davis 


. 1 


Fuller 


■y 


Gardner 

Hopkins 


1 

1 


Hamblin 

Howes 


1 
2 


Meiggs 


1 


Paine 

Richardson 
Stevens 


1 


] 


Sturges 


3 


Weaver 


1 


Hinckley 


•> 



[Historical Notes of Centerville, Massachusetts] 

at that time, it was decided to dispose of that building, and it was 
sold to Augustine F. Childs. Then a subscription was started 
towards a new building, both old and young contributing money 
and labor, and the result eventually was the present attractive and 
beautiful Library, which was dedicated August 6th, 1897. 

During 1797 Paul Phinney served as tax-collector for the town. 
Other tax-collectors have been James Cornish, John F. Cornish, and 
Leander Nickerson. 

. The first blacksmith shop was owned by Ebenezer Scudder 
in 1770, and was located on the hill west of Horace Jones' house. 




OLD ISAAC BEARSE HOUSE 
Torn down in 1886 



The second blacksmith shop was owned by Leander Gage in 1831, 
and stood near where the late F. G. Kelley's house now stands. 
In 1S40 the shop was purchased by Clark Lincoln and moved to 
the site of the tin-shop on Main Street. Afterwards it was sold 
to William Jones and removed to its present site, and in 1867 sold to 
H. B. Sears, who is now carrying on the business. 

The tin-shop now owned by Mrs. Clark Lincoln was built about 
1850. 

At the north of the tin-shop stood George F. Weaver's paint-shop, 
built in 1 861. He continued in the business there for fifteen years. 
J. Q. A. Richardson's paint-shop was first located near the old 
Isaac Bearse house. He later rented a shop owned by Nelson 
Phinney. Horace Jones opened a paint-shop about 1879 on land 

[io7] 



[Historical Notes oj Centerville, Massachusetts] 



owned by Gorham F. Crosby, and is still carrying on the business at 
the same place. Another paint-shop is located on Monument Ave., 
and the business is under the management of Rudolphus E. 
Childs. 

About the year 1808 Thomas Scudder, son of Ebenezer Scudder, 
who named Scudder's Bay, started the first store dealing in dry goods 
and groceries, including liquor. The store was located on what 
was then the main road to Osterville, and was a part of the house 
later occupied by Charles Phinney. When Mr. Scudder moved to 
Maine he sold his business to Mr. Phinney, who continued to carry 
it on. After some time, however, it became a well-known fact that 
many men called there very early in the morning, ostensibly to 
purchase the necessary supply of family groceries. It was at this 
time that the temperance question was agitated, and Mr. Phinney 
being convinced that the sale of liquor was wrong, and that his 
business could not be made profitable otherwise, decided to dis- 
continue the same and engage in other pursuits. 

There was another store located in the field back of what is now 
the estate of Gorham F. Crosby. It was under the management 
of Job Childs, who dealt in groceries and East India goods. In 
1830 Freeman Marchant built the store now occupied by Horace F. 
Phinney, where his sister Tirzah Marchant kept and sold the mer- 
chandise. Warren Marchant succeeded his aunt about 1837, and 
it was at this time that thirty-seven men of the village agreed to 
become copartners in trade, for the purpose of carrying on the 
business of merchants and conducting mercantile enterprise. 

The name given to this copartnership was the Centerville Trading 
Company. The capital stock was obtained wholly upon the credit of 
the firm, and the debts of the firm were never to be extended beyond 
$10,000 more than the debts due the firm. There were twenty-six 
articles, all of which were signed by the following gentlemen, agreeing 
to the conditions therein: — 



Jonathan Kelley 
Prentiss Kelley 
Lewis Crosby 
Nelson Bearse 
Nelson Kelley 
Darius Crosby 
Alvin Crosby 
Gorham Crosby 
James Crosby, Jr. 
Ferdinand G. Kelley 
Joseph D. Crowell 
James Lumbert 
Philander Crosby 



Wilson Hinckley 
Austin Bearse 
Sylvanus Jaggar 
James Lewis 
James Crosby 
Jehiel Crosby 
Ansel Lewis 
Joseph Lewis, Jr. 
Ezra Crowell, Jr. 
Leander Gage 
Ephraim Richardson 
Samuel Crosby, Jr. 

[138] 



Braddock Phinney 
Edward Lewis 
Warren Marchant 
Joseph Lewis 
Wilson Crosby 
Isaac Bearse 
Daniel Davis 
Andrus Bearse 
David Linnel 
Oliver Crosby 
Crocker Hinckley 
Edward Lewis, Jr. 



[Historical Notes o] Centerville, Massachusetts] 

The Centerville Trading Company was discontinued in 1841, 
when Jonathan Keller and son bought the site, store, and business. 
In 1854 Ferdinand G. Kelley bought the business of his father, and 
continued the same until 1891, when he sold out to Alton A. Phinney. 
About 1838 a small building was erected near the post-office, by 
Braddock Childs, in which he carried on a harness-maker's business. 
Afterwards it was occupied by Jerome Crocker as a tailor shop. 
Next, the building was purchased by Darius Crosby, who had it 
moved to the estate of Lewis Crosby, after which James Worrell 
manufactured cigars there for about two years, and shoe-making 
was carried on by Joseph Phinney. It was afterwards fitted up and 
occupied by the Misses Lydia Phinney and Julia Hallett as a 
millinery store for two years. In 1853 Mrs. Julia Fish carried on 
the millinery business at her home, and continued the same for 
about ten years. 

James Cornish had a small store prior to 1857, near his house 
on Main St. During 1856 John Case and Ambrose Lewis en- 
gaged in the shoe business, in a store located nearly opposite the 
church. In i860 the business was changed to confectionery and 
ice-cream, which was continued until 1870, when Moses F. Hallett 
and son bought the business. They continued the partnership until 
1892, when Samuel H. Hallett purchased the business from his 
father and is still carrying it on. 

A store adjoining the house of Ansel Lewis was opened in 1847 
under the firm name of Crosby & Lewis. This store was moved 
in 1858 to the junction of Main St. and the roads leading to Hyannis 
and the beach. In 1867 Messrs. Crosby and Lewis dissolved part- 
nership, and Alvin Crosby continued the business until 1886, when 
it was sold to Messrs. Bearse and Phinney, who now carry it on. 

In 1847 Wilson Crosby built a store for his son near his residence. 
His son being obliged to go to Minnesota on account of failing health, 
Captain Crosby converted it into a grain and grocery store. During 
1874 Enoch Lewis bought and continued the business until 1890. 

Some sixty years ago, Nelson Phinney built the first wheelwright 
shop, and also engaged in carriage painting. Afterward he carried 
on a pedler's business in connection with a dry-goods store on his 
premises. 

Dennis Sturgis opened a grocery store in "Sturgis Lane" in 
1868 and continued the business eight years. Sylvanus Jaggar 
opened a small drug store at his home in 1850 and the business was 
continued there until 1902. 

[i39] 



[Historical Notes of Centerville, Massachusetts] 

Seventy-five years ago Thomas Linnel was a cordwainer and 
shoemaker. About 1850 Crocker Hinckley made shoes, and shoes 
were repaired by Moses F. Hallett. Frederick Bearse was interested 
in the shoe business for sixteen years, beginning in 1870. 

For a few years, it is said, the town meetings were held in the 
church in Phinney's Lane. 




JAMES CROSBY HOMESTEAD 
Torn down 1871 



During the year 1827 a Methodist camp-meeting was held for one 
week on the old Isaac Bearse estate. 

Among other old houses that have disappeared were the James 
Crosby homestead and Vincent Nickerson house. The latter was 
located in Phinney's Lane near the bicycle path which leads through 
the beautiful pine woods to the lake. It was destroyed by fire 
about 1 86 1. 

A harness-maker's shop was opened in 1866 by Andrew B. 
Gardner, who still continues the business. The principal contract- 
ing carpenters in the village previous to i860 were James Crosby 
and William Phinney, the latter going to learn his trade when fourteen 
years of age and remaining until he was twenty-one. Charles Baker 
worked at carpentering for a number of years, also Davis P. Nye. 

Owen Crosby's carpenter shop was located on his mother's estate 
on Main St. Chester Bearse built a carpenter shop on his 

[140] 



[Historical Notes oj Centerville, Massachusetts] 

premises in 1882. During 1898 he opened a hardware store in 
connection with the shop. William S. Lumbert opened a carpenter 
shop at his home on the Beach Road in 1887. William S. Phinney 
has had a carpenter shop for several years in the building last 
used by the Bacon School. D. B. Snow opened a shoe repair shop 
in 1897. Theodore Kelley, Jr., opened a blacksmith and wheel- 
wright shop, located on the lower road to Hyannis, in 1901. 

About 1850 Nathaniel Jones was the village mason. Other 
masons have been E. W. Austin, George E. Austin, Caleb E. Whit- 
ford, and Wilton L. Childs. 

Asa S. Phinney was the author of a small book of poems published 
in 1845. Henry A. Stevens has been a piano-tuner and agent for 
a number of years. William F. Hallett commenced the business 
of taxidermist in 1888. He has successfully mounted many varieties 
of birds and rare animals. The practicing physicians that have 
been settled in the village are as follows, viz. : Doctors Sturtevant, 
Fossett, Magoun, Ford, Bassett, George, and Clement. 

A milk route was established in 1892 by Jehiel R. Crosby. Nelson 
P. Phinney started a produce business in 1898, and Lemuel Backus 
engaged in the fruit business. Howard G. Lumbert was engaged 
in the fruit business about 1901. During 1901 Alton A. Phinney 









3u;.| 




1 












1 Hi ""jBM ~*? jgy 


■ .£ 





VINCENT X1CKERSON HOME 
Destroyed by fire 1861 

sold out his store to Messrs. Phinney and Kelley, and in iqo2 Mr. 
Kelley sold his interest to his partner Horace F. Phinney. Herbert 
Kelley manufactured cigars in a small store located on the land 
now owned by Dr. Rufus Kingman. It was discontinued after three 
years. In 1897 he opened a carpenter shop near his residence. 

[I4i] 







'- U 









[Historical Notes of Centerville, Massachusetts] 

Frank E. Crocker opened the first plumber's shop in the village in 
1899. 

Miss Amanda Crosby was the first organist in the church, and 
held the position for many years. The first Sunday-school was 
organized in 1822 by "Aunt" Annah Lewis, who died about 1880, 
after a long life of usefulness. 

The Children's Hour Club was organized in the Library, Dec. 
6th, 1892, by Miss Laura M. Bearse. The Christian Endeavor 
Society was organized by Mrs. E. L. Marsh in 1894. The Band of 
Mercy was started by the Children's Hour Club in 1904. 

The old cemetery is located on the left of the main road in Phinney's 
Lane. It is kept in good repair, and many of the early settlers sleep 
therein. Another small cemetery adjoins the church and is neatly 
enclosed. The Oak Grove Cemetery Association was organized 
November, 1855, with twenty-seven members. At the annual 
meeting January, 1901, it was voted to change the name to Beechwood 
Cemetery. 

During 1876 Nelson Bearse presented land for a small public 
park, and named the same Chester Park. The Republican Club 
placed a flagstaff in Chester Park in 1895. Hon. John Simpkins 
of Yarmouth presented the beautiful American flag. 

The hotel of the village for many years was the Crosby House, 
built in 1834, owned and controlled by Gorham Crosby. It becoming 
inadequate in 1859, Mr. Crosby had the house removed to an ad- 
joining lot, and later it was sold to Alonzo P. Crosby. A new house 
was erected on the old site, and used as a hotel, under the manage- 
ment of Gorham Crosby & Sons. It is now the residence of Aaron 
S. Crosby. 

The old James Lewis house was remodeled several years ago 
by Cyrus Crosby and has become a popular summer boarding-house. 




M3] 




HOWARD MARSTON 





HE remarkable opportunities for pleasure which 
the village affords, including the excellent facilities 
for bathing, boating, fishing, riding, and walking, 
draw many here each season; and those who have 
felt the peculiar charm amid the quiet and beauty 
of its shaded street do not need to be urged to 
summer here when the warm weather approaches. 
Wequaquet Lake, known until recent years as 
Nine Mile Pond and located between Barnstable 
and Centerville, is another attraction. 
During 1896 Howard Marston, a lake enthusiast, had it surveyed 
and a chart made by George W. Eldridge, hydrographer of Chatham. 
The lake covers 656 acres, and the shore line measures io^> miles. 
The chart is in colors, measuring 44 x 24 inches, and gives the racing 
courses with buoys and soundings. In Amos Otis' "Geographical 
Notes of Barnstable," he says that the Indian name Wequaquet 
means fair, pleasant, delightful, and that there is poetry in the name. 
The pond or lake has ever been a favorite resort for sportsmen. 

Elisha B. Bearse has been the pioneer in catering to the wants 
of visitors since 1875. His camp, located on the shore of the lake, 
and his home near by, have housed many famous guests, including 
Ex-President Cleveland, Joseph Jefferson, the noted actor, Governor 
Herrick of Ohio, and a governor from Indiana, who have come 
there to enjoy his famous dinners and the freedom of hunting and 
fishing at their pleasure. 

Last year Mr. and Mrs. Albert Stark built and opened to the 
public a line new cafe which they christened "Camp Opechee." 
Mr. and Mrs. Stark are born caterers and were immediately suc- 
cessful in their new enterprise. 

One of the most desirable points of land on the lake was obtained 
by Andrew Gardner in exchange for a harness made by him in 1886. 

[M5] 



[Historical Notes oj Centerville, Massachusetts] 

Messrs. Russell and Howard Marston and others have made large 
purchases of property around the lake and improved the same by 
building piers, boathouses, etc. A number have erected camps 
and cottages, and it is hoped that others will be so attracted by 
the natural scenery and peaceful quiet as to often visit this beautiful 
spot. 

Howard Marston has also taken the lead in aquatic sports with 
his fast Hereshoff boats. During vacation days in "the good old 





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CAMP OPECHEE AND BEARSE'S 



summer time," many moonlight fetes have been held, such as il- 
luminations, fireworks, and bonfires in the center of the lake on 
rafts provided for the purpose. On such occasions large numbers 
have gathered from the surrounding villages to witness the enchant- 
ing scene of sailboats, rowboats, and canoes gaily decorated, as they 
glided to and fro over the silvery surface. 

Since 1890 yachting has been a favorite pastime, a large fleet of 
small catboats being raced at frequent intervals. The steamer 
"Rambler "'has carried many excursionists around the lake, and several 
naphtha launches have added to the enjoyment of summer visitors 
who frequent this beautiful sheet of water from the many resorts 
in this vicinity. 

Could we pause here and roll the wheels of time back, even for 
the one century that we have thus briefly and so imperfectly reviewed, 
how strange the picture that we should behold, and with what 
astonishment would those old Puritan ancestors gaze upon the many 
changes that have been wrought by the transforming hand of time. 

~ [146] 



[Historical Notes of Centerville, Massachusetts] 

Those old days are long since passed, however, and the hunting- 
grounds of the Indian have been converted into the peaceful homes 
that we see about us to-day. 

All who have had the good fortune to be born in this neighborhood 
ought to be proud of their birthplace, as the Cape people are usually 
highly esteemed wherever known. 

The same elements of nobility and kindly affection which were 
transplanted here in the wilderness long, long years ago, have been 
transmitted through the generations that have followed, and I trust 
will ever be the heritage of those that are vet unborn. 




[i47] 



CENTERVILLE "BOYS" IN MINNESOTA 



ALBERT X. LEWIS 



Mr. Lewis is a son of the late Capt. Enoch Lewis. He left Centerville in 1863 for Boston, and was 
for two years clerk in the Wharfinger's Office of Commercial Wharf. He then became bookkeeper for 
H. W. Vinal, grain merchant, on Commercial Street, and afterwards partner, as H. W. Yinal & Co. De- 
siring larger opportunities, he went West in 1871, establishing a successful hardware business at Willmar, 
Minn., incorporated as Lewis Hardware Company in 1903. Mr. Lewis has taken a conspicuous 
part in the growth of his adopted home from a small hamlet to a city of over five thousand. He was muni- 
cipal Treasurer for many years. Alderman, Member of Board of Education, City Charter Committee, and 
other civic bodies, and is Vice-President of the First National Bank. At the time of the great Grasshopper 
Invasion of 1876-7 Mr. Lewis was one of those public-spirited citizens who voluntarily assumed large 
financial obligations to procure the seed grain necessary for the stricken farmers of this section of the State. 
Mr. Lewis married, in 1875, Alexina R. Handy, one of those Centerville girls of whom we are all so proud 
They have two sons. 

EVERETT W. LEWIS 

Mr. Lewis is a son of the late Capt. Enoch Lewis. He left Centerville in 1874, taking up the study 
of civil engineering with the city engineer of Somerville, Mass. He went to Minnesota in 1877, and 
resides at Willmar. He has been employed by the municipalities of Fargo, X. D., and Duluth, Minn., 
by the United States Government in harbor improvement work, and for six years past has been in the 
service of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, in charge of location and construction of new lines 
at various points between St. Paul and the Pacific Coast. He married, in 1884, Mattie A., daughter of 
the late Judge J. H. Brown of Willmar. They have a son and daughter. 



WILLIAM L. CROSBY 

Mr. Crosby is the eldest son of the late Capt. Lewis Crosby. Following a long line of progenitors, 
he began his career by going to sea at the early age of eleven. Twenty years of his life were spent as a 
sailor and master in foreign and coastwise navigation. Mr. Crosby has the happy faculty of making 
himself agreeable to all with whom he is brought in contact. An acute observer and a most interesting 
narrator, his tales of the lands he has visited, and his experiences of voyage and wreck, make him a most 
genial companion or host. Tiring of the sea, he went to Minnesota in 1883, to be near his brothers, with 
whom he was associated in various enterprises. In 1S99 he entered the employ of the Edwards-Wood 
Company, a large grain and st.uk commission house of St. Paul, and has been for some years their local 
manager at Willmar. Mr. Crosby married, in 1S72. Adaline H. Sturgis, a Centerville girl, who died 
in 1895. In 1897 he married Mabel E. Moore, of St. Paul. He has one son. 



HERBERT M. CROSBY 

Mr. Crosby is the second son of the late Capt. Lewis Crosby. Like many another Centerville boy, 
he began his business career as a clerk for the late F. G. Kelley, Esq., at the age of fourteen. In 1870 
went to Boston as bookkeeper in the grain store of Albert E. Vinal& Co., Haymarket Square. He went 
West in 1871 to clerk for Mr. A. X. Lewis at Willmar. Minn., with whom he remained eleven years. In 
1^*2 he established a hardware business in South Minneapolis, which he afterwards removed to Merriam 
Park, now a part of the city of St. Paul. In 1890 he, with others, started the bank of Merriam Park, of 
which he was cashier and manager until 1898. This position naturally brought him into acquaintance 
and connection with men of means and influence in the "Twin Cities," with whom he has since been 
associated in various enterprises of development and finance. He married, in 1NS0. Kate Evelyn, daughter 
of Superintendent C. W. Moore of the old "St. Paul & Pacifii ." now the Great Northern Railway. 
They have two sons. 

ALTOX CROSBY 

Mr. Crosby is the youngest son of the late Capt. Lewis Crosby. He went to Minnesota in 187G, and 
soon thereafter entered the printing office of the Willmar Republican Gazette, at that time the only paper 
in Kandiyohi County. Steadily pursuing his adopted profession, he became in 1881 associate and in 
1885 sole proprietor and editor. Under his management it has become one of the leading country journals 
of the State, exerting a distinct influence in the Republican politics of its district. He also does a large 
job printing business, for which he has every facility. Mr. Crosby married, in 1.XS4. Miss Certrude Bald- 
win of Willmar. They have a son and daughter. 



FRANK G. HANDY 

Mr. Handy is the son of Benjamin F. and Mrs. Margaret S. Handy. He left Centerville in 1870, 
and assumed charge of a branch hardware store established by Mr. A. X. Lewis at Morris, Minn. He 
went to Willmar in 1S7S, entering the Bank of Willmar, — at that time the only bank there, and now one 
of the strongest financial institutions in the State, — and shortly became its cashier, which position he 
has since held. Mr. Handy has grown up with the city, and become one of its leading and influential 
citizens. He was for a long time city Treasurer, and a member of the Board of Education. He is a deacon 
and earnest contributor to the interests of the local Presbyterian Church. He married, in 1882, Dorrie 
F. S., daughter of the late Judge John H. Brown of the twelfth judicial district of the State. They have 
one sun. 

(See pages 65 and 06) 



[l-l8] 



014 013 490 9 




